


Mind Mirrors

by Destinyawakened, SeaOfEmpathy, You_Are_As_Alone_As_I_Am



Series: Smoke and Mirrors [2]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alpha!Kae, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Blow Jobs, Bonding, Depression, Fingering, Flirting, Heats, Longing, Lust, M/M, Magic, Manipulation, Mating, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega!will, Rutting, Sex, Smut, past Hannibal/Will relationship, rim jobs, ruts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-09-03 05:01:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8697892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destinyawakened/pseuds/Destinyawakened, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeaOfEmpathy/pseuds/SeaOfEmpathy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/You_Are_As_Alone_As_I_Am/pseuds/You_Are_As_Alone_As_I_Am
Summary: After the fall and Hannibal's death, Will finds himself on the run and wandering the world in search of peace and answers. When he winds up on the doorstep of a sorcerer, he's unaware of how his life is about to be turned inside out.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 1) We've edited the best he could, gone over it a lot. Anything wrong? Message us on [TUMBLR!](http://seaofempathy.tumblr.com)  
> 2) Hope you enjoy, this one is going to be a ride.

 

Kaecilius had been through hell to get to this place. Losing everything he ever loved, his mother, father and beloved little sister in a brutal slaughter that had occurred at the hands of mercenaries invading his country, he fled as a young man to this city and that, seeking solace for his tortured soul. The things he'd endured and witnessed, no one should ever have to live through, but Kae was a strong-willed young man, an Alpha, determined to live and fight and become more powerful.

On his quest for self actualization and healing, he'd found The Ancient One, and his biology quickly took a back seat to his new obsession. He'd come to her with nothing but the clothes on his back and a broken heart, and she trained him in the ways of the mystic arts, learning to control the power within to manipulate matter itself.

In time, Kae became one of the most powerful magicians the Sorcerer Supreme had ever seen. Deep in the Himalayas, he worked tirelessly on his skills. He learned that sickness, disease, and even age could all be controlled with the power of the human mind. Or so he thought.

It was the middle of the night one evening when Kae couldn't sleep, and he made his way to the library to do some reading. He'd just entered the sanctum where the locked books were kept, the personal library of The Ancient One herself, when he heard strange noises from within the alcove. Hanging back in the shadows, he witnessed something that would forever mark the man: The Ancient One had opened a portal to the Dark World, and was communing with the very being she'd taught him to fear and loathe: Dormammu, Lord of the Realm of Darkness. She was using his power to keep herself young and alive, defying death itself.

Kae was shocked and held back his gasp as the realization hit him: she was a hypocrite. She'd driven it into his mind, into everyone's mind, that Dormammu was wicked and a foe to be vanquished, and yet here she was, drawing life force from him. Kae quietly fled, stumbling away in disillusioned confusion. As he made it back to his bed, he vomited along the way, confused and angered.

Kae continued practicing his skills, and his power had become great enough that he could control his animalistic impulses with his own well-trained mind. But he grew cold and distant from The Ancient One, a fact not lost on her. She observed the changes in him, and knew he'd seen her in communion with the Dark Lord, but knew not what the young man intended to do about it. Wanting to keep him close, she compelled a fellow student and confidant of Kae's to watch him closely.

Kae took to practicing his spells and magic alone, in his room. Keep quiet, practice diligently, and figure out if, how and when to confront her on her secret. His hair began to turn gray, and he aged even as he practiced, which made him all the more determined to contact Dormammu himself and unlock the same rule over time that his mentor had harnessed.

He was walking about the temple, thoughts churning in his head, when he came upon a shaggy, despondent looking soul leaning back against the wall in what appeared to be defeated exhaustion. There was darkness rolling off this new person, which Kae glimpsed vividly – explicitly - as dark, stormy blue waves, white with the froth of grief and anguish. He couldn't see his face yet, but didn't need to. There was something else, too: a slight sniff revealed this one huddled on the ground was an Omega. It was subtle; clearly this creature was on some sort of suppressors, but Kae's reaction was unmistakable.

***

The blood on the empath’s hands would forever be stained, leaving nothing but the creases tinted dark even when cleaned, when scrubbed until his skin felt like it was going to be burned off. Long, beautiful fingers had grasped him, held him, as they fell into the icy ocean-- fingers Will would never forget. The fall had been exactly what they planned, through their bond, without real words, and yet Hannibal’s fate even still surprised Will and dragged him down into the pit of despair all over again when he thought about the doctor. The Omega empath stared at his hands once more, the moonlight cascading delicate shadows over the weather worn crevices, creating an almost murky, sinister looking gashes in his palms.

Too long had he been wandering, bonded now to the body of a lifeless man, soul bound or not, Will had fallen into a depression much worse than the one he adopted after Hannibal gutted him and ran off with Bedelia. This was soul crushing, chest aching, and hard to breathe.

After escaping the clutches of FBI, after being silently picked up, Will Graham wandered until he reached Tibet, taking in sights, avoiding eyes, and trying to comprehend the world around him now that he no longer had his life mate. He was in search for something that would bring him peace, something that would take the pain away. Anything at this point was better than a life on the run without Hannibal Lecter.

Dodging between buildings and tents, Will finally sat down on the stoop of a shop, not intending to go in, but to rest, he was still still healing, mentally and physically. He rubbed his hands over his face, indignantly, roughing up his beard, and then this hair as his fingers spread through soft tendrils. Head in his hands, Will sat for a long, long while, unaware of the passing time, or who was watching.

“May I help you, young man?” Kae asked. Will looked up, blinking in question, his eyes deceiving him.

“Hannibal?” Will asked, rubbing his eyes, wondering if delusion had finally set in.

The young man spoke words Kae didn't understand; clearly a name. “I am Kaecilius, a sorcerer & student here. Are you here to learn too? Have you...have you met with anyone else yet?” he asked cautiously. Better that he be the first to approach this lost soul than The Ancient One get her claws in him. This one looked so incredibly desolate, he couldn't have been there long.  

Will blinked, realizing on better analyzation, that no, this was not Hannibal, nor even close to his Hannibal except for in the same fine looks, regal structure of cheekbones, color of hair… The omega took a deep, deep breath, and spread his hands against his knees, and stood with a little grunt of effort. “Learn? No.” He gave the other man a once over. “I haven’t talked to anyone for days.”

Kae looked deep in the young man's eyes and felt an intense weight; with his skill more developed now, he could see into the young man clearer, though not entirely. A fog obscured his vision, but what he could take in, he described. “You've lost something, lost everything, haven't you? You came here seeking peace, solace. You've... you've lost yourself, have you not?”    

“Someone,” Will whispered, “who was everything.” He gave the man a look and offered his hand, despite not wanting to make that contact, his breeding pushed him. “Will Graham.”

Kae took the younger man’s hand as offered, clasping his free hand over the top. “Will Graham, welcome. I would love to help you, if you’d allow me. Help you move aside from the pain you’re in now.” He sniffed the air again, withdrawing his hand slowly. “You’re….you’re an unbonded Omega, are you not?” he asked. His own biology had been honed and disciplined under the tutelage of The Ancient One, but even still, he wondered if the young man could detect he was an Alpha.

“I was bonded once,” Will explained, taking his hand back, deep in his pockets now. “He died, tragically. I’ve been trying to move forward since.” He knew an Alpha when he saw one, not need to smell one out.

Kae folded his hands in front of himself. “There are some that say the past cannot be changed, that you need to let go of expectations and work with momentum, not fight it. I find that to be untrue though. Time can be mastered, manipulated, reversed. Weakness is in accepting that things are as they are, and cannot be changed. Anything can be changed. This entire universe is simply a concept in our own minds that has been ingrained since birth.” He moved closer to Will. “Perhaps I can show you?”

Skeptically of a lot of things, Will merely raised his brows toward the other man, listening. “You want to show me that I could master time and go back and fix the now? Is that what you’re saying?”

Kae smiled and walked a few paces away before turning back. “I don’t expect you to believe me. You’ve been programmed since birth to believe only what you can see, that time and matter only function a particular way. You’ve got no reason to believe otherwise. Fortunately, there is a way I can show you what I mean. You can see for yourself. You don’t need to believe me.”  

“I have my imagination, I can… believe quite a bit,” Will said, stepping forward, curious now. “You can show me?”

Kae waved his hands in the air, sparks flying and forming a spiral of fire, starting as a small circle and gradually expanding larger, right in front of them, until it formed a circular opening large enough to climb through. Nothing but fog could be seen inside the doorway. He looked back at Will, and reached for his hand. “Come,” he said in a deep voice. “Release all your expectations, everything you know, and it will make this much easier to comprehend.”

For a man with a mind like Will’s, it wasn’t as hard as it seemed, and he took a deep breath before taking the other’s hand, and stepping through with him.

As they stepped through, wind buffeted them on all sides, and they were in the middle of the Atlantic, on a small boat, a storm slashing water across their faces violently. Kae held fast to Will's hand. “An infinite number of universes, and this is only one. We see only a margin of what reality exists around us every day. Hold on,” the sorcerer yelled over the waves crashing down around them, and with a flick of his fingers, they were spiraling through the air, through another gate conjured in the space in front of him. Now they stood in Egypt, before the Great Pyramids. “We're only limited by our own minds. The possibilities of our power are limitless,” he said, the sun now beating down upon them, drying their skin. He turned to Will. “You can have the same power. I show you this to illustrate the magnitude of what can be achieved. The grief in your heart is only a temporary thing, only a minor obstacle. We can go back in time and recover your lost loved one, Will. You need not suffer any longer. I can teach you,” he said finally, redrawing a gate and bringing them to the edge of the Grand Canyon. He let go of Will's hand to pick up a stone on the ground, handing it to him. “It's real, tangible. Feel it.”

The omega’s eyes were wide, everything unbelievable and yet so real, like a dream from his mind come to life. He touched the stone, and held it, like a weight in his palm, reassuring.”Why would you teach me?”

Kaecilius couldn't quite pinpoint what it was drawing him to the sad-faced, disheveled little Omega, but it was more than just a biological pull. He trained and tamed his urges, though they were certainly there, ever present, he was still very disciplined. No, it was more than that. Looking into the young man's eyes, he saw an endless sea of pain that reminded him much of his own.

“Some would harbor this knowledge as a secret, to be bestowed only on those that prove themselves. I don't see it that way. If I have a cup of water, and you are dying of thirst, should I not give it to you? If I know where there is a wellspring, should I not lead you to it?” Kae cut another hole in the air around them and walked Will back to the stoop where they'd met. “It strengthens me to train others. And, I see something behind your eyes, Will, something I recognize. I too had everything that I loved ripped from me at a painfully early age. When I found this place I was lost. Now I am found, and powerful. I feel compelled to try and help you, young Will.” The same hands that had opened a gate to another dimension, large, tanned, covered in veins and scars, reached up to brush Will's bearded cheek. “You look as though you could, at the very least, use a friend. Will you let me help you?” he asked.

Will’s large blue eyes kept a keen watch on everything around him, only aware of how close the other man was when he touched him, and much to his own demise, he leaned into Kae’s palm, and then turned his face away when he realized he was seeking comfort from the Alpha. He should probably say no, that being around an Alpha that resembled his dead mate was not wise, but the words that spilled from his lips betrayed him yet again. “Yes.”

The longing in Will was palpable; Kae could clearly see his loneliness, the ache and longing of missing his Alpha was so strong to the man, and it latched onto him, wrapping around and threatening his steely control. He caught himself, centering his focus. “We can begin, but first, you need food, rest, a shower. Rebuild your strength for what we will be working towards,” Kae said, taking Will’s hand again. “I’ll take you to a clean room you can stay in here.”

Another nod from the grieving omega, and he wrapped his long fingers around the other man’s. He could care for himself, but it would mean days on a boat, with his dogs, that were no longer his own, taken somewhere else long before this moment. “Thank you.”

Kaecilius opened the unassuming looking door to the temple, and led Will down a long hallway. It had grown dark already, and with a wave of his hand he conjured a lantern to illuminate their path. Moving down another corridor, they reached a door with a brass knob, and Kae opened it. “My room is only two doors over, should you need anything, just ask,” the older man said, setting the light down to cast a golden glow about the room. It was quite simple and bare, but had a bed, a desk and chair and a washroom. “I will return shortly with some food for you,” he said, resting a hand on Will's shoulder briefly before leaving.  

Will nodded and before he knew it, the man was gone, and he was alone again, in a musty room. He set his little bag of things down and shucked off worn boots by the door and gazed out the only window available.

As Kae made his way down the hall to the kitchen, he pondered his encounter with this new young man. The Ancient One would be furious with him attempting to train someone; he wasn't deemed ready yet to do so. He'd have to keep their sessions limited to their rooms. Meanwhile Will would be fine to stay there as another lost soul seeking peace, as most of the travelers at the temple were present under such auspices.

He was greeting by the scent of a vegetable-based lentil soup, and quickly got two bowls along with some water and a loaf of bread. They ate simply there and were primarily vegetarian, though Kae had to admit he missed meat.

The sorcerer carried the tray to Will's room and knocked twice.   

“Come in,” Will said, steeling himself for the looks of the other man once more, which honestly were making it quite a bit harder to concentrate and not think about his dead mate.

Kae entered the room and set the tray down on the small desk by the window. He smiled at Will, struck by the way the younger man's eyes caught the glow of the lantern flame, like glittering sapphires, despite his exhausted state. He was extraordinarily beautiful, Kae could see clearly, beneath the wounds and sorrow.

“Are you on suppressants, Will?” he asked, his scent growing stronger since he'd left and returned moments earlier. He returned to the desk and pulled out one of two small chairs, nodding for Will to sit. As the young man did so, he couldn't help but inhale deeply, savoring the smell. It was tortuously good, and even with all Kae's discipline, hard to ignore.   

Will spread his hands as he sat down and looked over the offered bowl of soup with a thankful nod. “No, I haven’t been in years. Hadn’t needed to be.” He kept out of light of most others, away from people. This was the most human interaction he’d had that lasted longer than two minutes since Hannibal died.

“I see,” Kae responded. He wondered at how the young man's heat cycles must have gone since he'd been without his mate; he imagined pain, anguish, no relief, shutting himself away...the sorcerer shook the images from his mind, his expression betraying nothing. “I'm unsure how wise that is, being alone as you are. But no fear. You're in no danger here. The Alphas here, like myself, have been trained to use spells to control our ruts,” he said, and even as the words left his mouth, he found himself unconsciously licking his lips at the tinge of sweet berries in the air, wafting off dark curls.

“I can take care of myself, heats or no,” Will explained, trying not to roll his eyes. Everyone assumed he was helpless, as most Omegas were seen to be.

Kae’s own long, silver braid fell to his shoulder as he turned towards the tray of food and picked up a spoon. “Please, eat. It's a lentil and vegetable soup, quite good. You should try and eat, Will.”  

Will had not eaten well since the fall, since finding it was him who caused his mate’s death after all. Will took up the bowl and a spoon, and dipped the silver into it. He brought the spoon to his mouth, tasting the hearty soup. “It’s good,” he murmured, preferring to take in the smell of the food than that of the man across from him.

Kae took a spoonful himself, finally, after waiting for Will to begin out of politeness. He pursed his lips to blow the steam away before consuming the hot blend. He paused and examined the young man's face carefully before looking back down towards the dish. “I mentioned I had lost everyone I loved. It was my parents, my sister. They were killed a long time ago by mercenaries in my homeland. I barely escaped with my life, and had to watch my home burn to the ground as they were slaughtered in front of me. I hid in the trees, too gripped by terror and far too young to do anything to save them. Even though I was a boy, I was plagued with guilt that I was too much a coward to try to save them. From there I ran and lived like a feral child for what seemed like years, but was actually a matter of months. My uncle found me and adopted me, raised me, but he was a cruel man. I was...I was very different back then, Will. Bitter, angry, but never showed it. I kept it all inside, the pain bubbling out like molten lava at intervals in my life. All I knew was violence and rage.” The older man took a long drink from the cup of water before him and another swallow of soup.     

Will listened, intently, every aspect of Kae’s life sounded like an echo of Hannibal’s; so similar, and yet not clearly not. It felt as though history were coming to repeat itself, and push into Will’s face the very thing he’d lost, perhaps all over again. He ate quietly, waiting. “But not now?”

Kaecilius shook his head. “No. I came here a broken man. Spent time in contemplation and meditation and learned to clear my mind of all my notions of reality. Everything that occurred in my life brought me here to become strong, powerful, far greater than I would have been had I had a happy, perfect life. Such a life would have lulled me into the sense of contentment with a limited existence.” He tore a bite of bread from their loaf and chewed it thoughtfully.

Will wondered idly if Hannibal had ever found this sort of thing, would he still be alive, or would they have met at all? It wasn’t a reality he could honestly think of, it was too grief-strickening. “From grieving to powerful. You hide the grief under thick layers of contentment, of a new reality where you don’t have to think about it anymore, you don’t need to.”

“Most people who have been deeply wounded live this way. The mind finds ways to cope with things it cannot accept. But what if instead of accepting or not, you could let go completely? It's in that letting go that we can finally harness our real power. Our ability to change the very structure of reality. We see through the glass darkly, dear Will. I'll show you how to cut through the doubt and loosen your chains,” he said, his face crinkling into a smile. The mark between his eyes, an ancient-looking symbol in red, seemed to nearly glow for a brief moment.  

_We construct fairy tales and we accept them. Our minds concoct all sorts of fantasies when we don’t want to believe something._

Will swallowed more soup, more out of need to not feel the thickness in his throat constricting his breath. He had learned to live in a fantasy, to live in the smallest details of his mind, that his memories would forever be preserved there, that he’d have Hannibal even in the darkness of spaces. What Kae was suggesting, was to get rid of Hannibal and the memories all together and let of the pain that had so clearly _made_ Will.

“What if I don’t want them loosened?”

Kae sipped from his soup spoon and looked at Will meaningfully. “You misunderstand me. What I'm saying is, you can alter your past by releasing the reality of the present. Would you like to go back in time, reverse the event that tore your loved one away from you? I can show you how. Bring him back for you,” he said, aware by staring deep into the young man's soul that this was someone who had indelibly marked him, and envious beyond measure for reasons he was becoming more aware of with each passing moment.  

_Time did reverse. The tea cup that I shattered did come together._

All of Will’s cracks were sealed in gold, and harder to break now, but even then he didn’t want to shatter and break the bonds that held him. Time was a tricky thing, something Hannibal had written pages and pages of before, trying to go back to fix the things he had done to Will once… The empathic omega’s gaze wandered over Kae’s face, this too a very similar coincidence. Will rubbed his hand over the bond scar on his neck, absently, setting the bowl down. “If I alter the past, doesn’t someone else’s reality change?”

“The consequences of changing history. Yes, there may be some. I can see our future and countless others, so many potential outcomes. You carry deep empathy for others, you concern yourself with the happiness of others over your own. But don't you deserve fulfillment, joy? Human life is so disappointingly short, and I intend to defeat death and live forever,” he said, that last bit slipping out quite by accident. He was growing so comfortable with the young man, and he already was noticing his discipline fading under the olfactory assault of sweet fruit and musk. The older man shifted in his seat, betraying his discomfort for only a moment.  

“Why would you want to live forever? I see you’re not here with your family, you didn’t go back in time to save them, to keep them… so why?” Will was concerned, confused even, he wanted to know what exactly this man wanted, and certainly wanted with him.

"Infinite power. I no longer need them to fuel my change, I've grown stronger than my need for them. I've forged more important connections now," he stated, stopping just shy of what that meant exactly. He had been using his newly acquired skills to push past the barriers of his old grief, loneliness and anger. But it was still not enough, his hunger growing with every magical incantation he performed. "I want to help you, Will." His eyes burned brightly into Will's as he sought out his thoughts, but was met with only shadows. It made him more curious, more desirous to link to the young man. Fire burned in his belly at the thought.

_You must understand that blood and breath are only elements undergoing change to fuel your radiance. Just as the source of light is burning._

Will swallowed. “Changing the past isn’t necessary. I’ll only relive another unfortunate time where I’d lose him again. And again. How much more pain do I want to endure?”

Kae realized he'd need to show Will more. He hoped he could lure him with the promise of his returned lover, but he could see it would take more to convince him. “If you possessed the power to bring him back to life, why would you not be able to keep him from dying at all?” Kae stopped, setting his spoon down, and inched his chair closer to Will. “In another universe, he may very well still be alive, and longing for you as much as you long for him.” Kae brushed his fingertips along the mark on Will's neck, and sensed his discomfort at the contact, but continued, hoping to push at his barriers just the slightest bit more. Touching the mark of another Alpha felt like fire searing the flesh from his fingertips, but it had faded just enough to be tolerable. “Scars have the power to remind us the past is real,” the sorcerer said, the words and voice coming from somewhere else outside him, almost channeled through the physical contact with the young man. The echo of a memory.   

Will steeled himself at the touch, visibly shaking as his bottom lip trembled just slightly. “And if he’s not? Then I’ve set myself up for more pain. It is what it is. I’ll suffer and come out of this as I’ve come out of all of Hannibal Lecter’s doings against me: stronger.” That wasn’t to say the idea wasn’t tempting, but Will wasn’t sure he could face another Lecter, or look at Hannibal once again and not feel the grips of pain from his death over and over again.

"I won't force you to do something you don't want to do. We can certainly work on your healing, nothing more, not unless you want it." The man moved his hand down until it rested in the center of Will's chest, lingering a moment longer than necessary. Kae felt himself weaken, as though something inside the younger man was pulling at a loose thread, unraveling him. He moved back and looked strangely at Will, curiously, but returned his attention to his soup with a sigh.

“Let’s start with healing,” Will said, taking his bowl again to finish the food he had no intention of eating the rest of, but it was something to do with his hands and mouth, and kept everything else preoccupied, and though his eyes sought out every other part of Kae in front of him, whose scent started to linger more, and it reminded him distinctly of Hannibal.

The sorcerer could feel Will's eyes on him, roaming over his full lips, broad shoulders, thick arms and thighs, even his long, plaited hair. He looked back up at Will and was struck with the image of the omega beneath him, his face twisted in pleasure, those ruby lips parted and panting at what the Alpha could do to him. A glassy look came across his golden eyes before he shifted back to reality and set his bowl aside, no longer able to eat. “I should leave you to rest, Will,” Kae said, forcing himself to stand and retrieve his bowl and the tray. He left Will's soup dish alone. “Try to eat that all, if you can. You should bathe,” he advised, his jaw clenching slightly at the control he had to exert to keep himself restrained. Truthfully, Kae didn't want him to do anything to wash away that delicious omega aroma.

All Will had to do was look into Kae’s eyes and he could feel the sudden lust and need roll off him in waves, mixing with the pungent spicy scent of the Alpha; it left Will intoxicated, in ways he had not been in over a year. He stared at his soup, no longer wanting to taste it when he had only the Alpha’s scent lingering on his tongue. He stood and set the bowl on Kae’s tray anyway. “Are the baths shared or private?”

“Shared,” Kae answered, daring himself to meet those eyes he could drown in. “No one will disturb you at this hour. But, I can stand watch outside for you, if it would make you more comfortable,” he added, cursing himself for testing his own limits like this. His animal nature was running rampant inside with every moment he lingered in Will's presence. Standing outside the showers while Will bathed was surely a terrible idea, and he chastised himself for even offering.

Will licked his bottom lip, and nodded. “Lead the way?” He left his shoes there, barefoot, and shed his second jacket from the cold and left it on the bed, revealing more of his toned out features in the t-shirt he wore under an unbuttoned flannel shirt.

Kae allowed himself to stare at Will as he held open the door to the room. He nostrils flared at the fresh wave of pheromones released from Will's discarded jacket, shoes and socks. Kae looked down in an attempt to be chaste, but the young man's long, slender feet and high arches tormented him further. He turned away and led Will down the corridor to the baths.

They entered a room that looked more polished than the others, dark stone floor to ceiling, and glass showers appointed with brass fixtures. A large fire in one corner warmed the room to a comfortable temperature, and torches lined the walls, the flames dancing and casting an orange glow that illuminated the room. He walked to a bamboo cabinet along one wall and opened it, revealing clean towels. “There are soaps in the drawers by the sink near the fire,” Kae said. “I will be just here if you...need me,” he said, the last part of his sentence rolling off his tongue more thickly than he intended.

Will fingered the soaps and picked one up, shedding his flannel over shirt and let it sit in a pile on the ground, followed by his belt. Will tilted his chin toward the other man. “If I _need_ you,” he repeated back, unable to help the way his head swiveled a little, a coil of hair falling out of place. “Thank you.”

Kaecilius watched the shirt and belt fall to the floor, and felt a low rumble in his chest. The older man felt his body swell slightly in response to the flirtations. He stepped back, steeling himself to leave. “Yes, for _anything_. You’re welcome, Will,” he finally answered, and walked through the doorway, closing it behind him. He leaned against it as he heard the water running, and imagined Will disrobing entirely, letting the warm water cascade over his body. An old, long forgotten lust burned in his belly, and he sniffed the air greedily taking in Will's scent.

Only ten minutes went by and then Will stepped out with his clothes hung over one arm, and a towel around his waist, cinched there with one hand, wet and glistening. He gave Kae a nod and then walked back to his room, remember the path by memory this time. Part of him was grateful to the well trained man, the other part that was biting at the back of his mind was angry, having wanted to be ravaged right then and there. His scent spread down the corridors slowly, wafting along and enticing the other man to follow.

The aroma was overwhelming Kae's senses, and his biology challenged his reason, running rampant and threatening to trample him entirely. When Will emerged, skin rosy from the steam, still damp with drops of water trickling down his lean frame, the sorcerer's mouth dropped open slightly. His cock hung pendulously beneath the many layers of clothing he wore, and he adjusted himself in an attempt to conceal his arousal. The young man was clearly tempting him deliberately, he thought to himself as he followed him unbidden back to his room.

The Alpha’s scent had rocketed Will’s own sense of right and wrong right out of the water. They were now playing a game of courtship, one Will had not participated in since the time he had done it with Hannibal. He felt younger all over again, needy in ways he had been since his last time with Hannibal. As he got to his room, he set his clothes down on the bed, still holding the towel around his waist.

“Do you happen to have anything clean I could wear?”

Guided by instinct, Kae stepped dangerously close, close enough to taste the air surrounding the omega. “In the dresser. Spare clothes, freshly laundered, though I don't know if they'll fit,” he said, his voice dark with want. He had to force his arms to remain at his sides to resist reaching out and grabbing Will. His eyes traveled down Will's body lustfully, and a deep gnarl vibrated out through his broad chest.

Unlike most Omegas, Will was not the type to sit back and let things happen. He was a force to be reckoned with and knew exactly what he was doing. His eyes traveled from foot to head on Kae, and when their gazes met there was nothing but electric need between them. Where was this man’s control now? Will could see it disappearing right in front of him, his own body betraying himself, inching up closer to Kae than he needed to be, wafting his scent right to him. Grief had thrown his cycles off, and he hadn’t had a heat in a long time because of it, but everything seemed to be boiling and coming to head now, pushed aside and forgotten.

“They probably won’t. You might need to personally fit me for something else.”

Piece by piece, shards of Kae's carefully constructed control fragmented, dissolved in the rut that the omega was triggering in him. Kae exhaled heavily, meeting Will's gaze, and leaned forward to whisper in his ear, breath hot on the young man's neck. “You play a dangerous game, Omega.”

Will’s eyes darkened, stepping back into the room further, away from the Alpha. “One I control,” he snarled this time, displeasure in his tone at being addressed by his sex. Hannibal had made that mistake only once.

The challenge in his tone only provoked the sorcerer further. Kae stepped forward, quickly closing the slight distance Will put between them. “Are you in control, Will? Right now?” the older man asked. Blood pumped harder through his veins, beginning to feel like molten lava pooling in his groin. His beryl eyes seared into the shorter man, and his own control was slipping through his grasp as a bouquet of ambrosial temptation flooded his olfactory system with ravenous yearning.

Biology made control a tricky thing, of course. Will grasped the towel tighter around himself, every muscle in his body tensing up. He should take what was given and go, but he was rooted to his spot now, head tilting up as he gaze at the man, vivid blue on dark amber. “Yes.”

Kae inhaled deeply, savoring Will's tension, and finally stepped back. “Very well. Wear what you can find, and I'll measure you for new garments in the morning. Rest. You'll need it.” Kae strode back to the door, casting a lingering glance at Will as if to memorize the image of his form. Utter beauty, nearly irresistible to his view, fueled a hesitating stagger forward again. He smiled calmly, pulling from deep within himself to reassemble a mask of calm, and gripped the door handle. He was even still unable to look away.

 _Disappointing_. Will sighed, brows raised, and turned to the dresser to pull a few things out. He dropped the towel completely and pulled the shirt on and then the pants, saying nothing else to the man. Will knew by morning he’d be in full heat, his body finally catching up to himself, and by then he was sure he’d need move on anyway.

He stared with blood red eyes as the brazen young man dropped the towel and changed right in front of him. Without what little skill he had, the Alpha would have taken him to the floor and rutted him immediately; the very thought made it difficult to move. Harnessing the last reserves of strength, he twisted the knob and left, walking the few short steps to his own quarters. As he closed the door behind him, he instantly freed himself to grip around his throbbing flesh and stroke himself furiously, spilling with a groan on his garments and the floor. He knew in that moment he was fully entering his rut for the first time in over a decade.


	2. Chapter 2

Will slept better than he had in a long time, but the dreams he had were of drowning, all over again, and not being able to reach Hannibal in time. When he woke, he was covered in sweat and soaked through his clothes, to the sheets on the small bed. He stumbled out and opened the door, the whisper of voices down the hall, but no one in sight, lead him to believe he was mostly alone. Walking to the baths once again, Will slipped inside the room to wash his face, and run warm water of his neck, trying to rid himself of the sweat.

***

The sorcerer's rest was fitful, and he was about to give up when he scented Will walking past his door. He opened it, and looked just in time to watch him slip into the baths again. The young man was drenched, and Kae could absolutely taste it; it was driving him to madness. He cursed under his breath and closed his door again. Stripping himself bare, he knelt in the center of the floor to cast a spell over his urges. His own sweat trickled down his muscular back, and he strained to focus on the incantation. 

Will walked back toward his room, but he could smell Kae’s scent and followed it to the door of what had to be his room, and pressed his ear to it, listening to him.

“Most powerful Dormammu, hear my supplication and fortify my strength with your magic,” Kae pled, his voice ragged. The aching burn was overwhelming, and a distinct aroma rushed over him like an untamed river, saturating his senses with the thick scent of omega heat. “Come to me, I beseech you!” he begged. Unable to take any more, the essence of Will's condition absorbed into his very pores and untouched, he gasped twice before ejaculating on the floor yet again. Muscles rippling from the effort, his belly coated in his milky seed, he fell forward wordlessly, admitting defeat. His knot inflated uselessly against his thick thigh and a small groan fell from his lips. Kae wiped himself off and crawled into bed, the ordeal sapping him of energy, and he finally fell into slumber.

From the other side of the door, Will heard everything said, every groan, and then Kae’s scent filled the air through the crack under the door, and Will felt himself slicken, and hurried back to his room and shut the door, looking for a lock on it. He found none, and instead pulled the chair up to the door to block it. His own cock was hard and he was seeping from his entrance now. He stripped out of the sweaty clothes and threw them into a pile with his old clothes, and spread himself out on the bed, reaching between his thighs and fingering his wet hole. His efforts were fruitless though and without something inside him, he wouldn’t never fulfilled. He tried for hours and finally, Will just went back to sleep.

Kaecilius woke soaked to the skin, and tying a cloak around his waist, showered, dressed and readied himself for the day. He walked to Will's door and knocked; he would need to measure him for clothes, just as Will had asked.  

From inside the room there was shuffling heard on Kae’s end, and then a chair being moved from the sounds of it. Will opened the door, haphazardly dressed in new clothes from the dresser, far too large on him.

The older man entered and smiled calmly as he greeted Will. “Good morning. I hope you rested well?” he asked, setting a tablet and pen down on the desk and holding the tape measure in his right hand.

Will had been mostly kidding about the clothes, but if the man wanted to get him fitted, he wouldn’t argue. “I did…” he said, though a lie, he didn’t want to worry the other with his heat problems.

Kae approached Will and the scent rolled over him as he inhaled deeply. He stepped behind Will, pulling the tape across his shoulders. His warm hands skitted across the fabric of the shirt he did wear. “It's good we're doing this. These clothes wouldn't work for long,” he said, his voice almost husky as he moved the measuring tool down his back.

“They are a bit big. They swim on me,” Will agreed, trying to keep things cordial, even though it was painfully obvious that they were attracted to one another. Will stood as still as he could, but he started to sweat again from his heat, scent wafting now into the air to have the Alpha so close.

Kae strolled over to the desk and jotted some things down, and then moved back towards the young man. Looking up at him, his intense, penetrating gaze seeking out Will's stormy one, he dropped to his knees before him, pulling the tape taut. “Widen your stance,” he instructed, his respiration deepening as he was now inches from Will's groin.

Will swallowed and spread his legs a little further, wetness slipping down his cheeks, enough to start wetting the cloth pants he had on. “Better?”

Kae's hands slid up the young man's inseam and fingertips contacted his dampness. A sharp intake of breath could be heard in the quiet room, and he sighed in pleasure. Slowly running the tape from the inside of his thighs downward, he wrapped a large hand around Will's ankle as he leaned back on his heels and cast him a seductive look. “You seem to be actively in heat, now, Will,” he said, licking his lips.

“My apologies, it’s been erratic,” Will whispered, steeling himself as Kae looked at him like that, and touched him, keeping contact that only made Will throb from head to toe with wanton lust.

The Alpha couldn't stop himself from touching more, and his erection, which had never dissipated even after relieving himself, hung achingly laden from his body. “Do you want my help, Will?” Kae asked. Though he wasn't above manipulation, he wouldn't do something to the young man against his consent.

“I don’t want your _ help _ ,” Will said, his voice deeper with need, “I want  _ you _ .” It’d been too long, and being around an Alpha that he found attractive, was unlikely as Will was very picky in his ideals for potential mates.

Kae rose before Will, never breaking his gaze as he began shedding his robes. Layer after layer came off until he was bare chested, muscular and broad, dark and silver hair blanketing bronzed sinew. He toed off his shoes and dropped his pants, wearing no underwear beneath, the fabric no longer straining to contain him. Standing naked before Will, he held out his hand and his face filled with pure lust. “You want me, I offer myself to you, Will,” he said, and even as he spoke, his Alpha cock thickened before the younger man's eyes.

Will fell silent, the only sound was his ragged breathing and the soft shifting of clothes. The empath reached out and touched Kae’s chest, fingers spreading into the thicket of hair, and then up and around his shoulders, foreheads pressed together as Will attempted to have slightly better control, but he knew they were both failing. Grief had no room in Will's mind as utter attraction forced all other emotion out, and he was left with nothing but his own lust and feeding off Kae’s. “Undress me.”

Kaecilius reached out to grip Will by the back of his neck, lips hovering over lips, and looked in his eyes deeply. In one sharp gasp, he covered Will’s mouth with his own in a ravenous kiss; his hands slipping to the drawstring around his waist, he roughly jerked them loose, letting them fall to the ground. Without breaking the seam connecting them, the sorcerer tore open the too-large shirt Will wore, buttons flying across the room and fabric rending. Fingertips swept down Will’s now naked form, and he pressed himself against him, reaching back to cup his backside and pull him closer into his embrace.

It had been too long since Will had been so… ravaged. Eager hunger tore through him as he kissed Kae back, tongue and teeth sliding and clicking, and moan of desire escaping his chest, almost like a purr, luring in the Alpha to him. Will stepped out of the pants and into the other man’s arms completely, reaching between them to grasp Kae’s cock.

The older man backed Will into his bed until his knees hit the mattress, and only then did he pull them out of the kiss only long enough to push the young man down. Crawling on top of him, the Alpha pulled Will's legs apart, lifting them over his shoulders, and leaned down to lick at his weeping entrance. The omega's slick tasted like the most succulent, decadent nourishment he had ever consumed. He moaned with delight, his deep voice vibrating into Will's body as he fed hungrily.

Will’s fingers went to massive shoulders, gripping tightly as his neglected hole was ravaged, leaving him moaning in ways he would surely find embarrassing later. The other man’s name was on the tip of his tongue, panted out in pleasured, bated breaths as he began to writhe, hips rolling down against the wet muscle.

A volcanic heat spread through Kaecilius. He needed desperately to get inside the young man, his rut now raging through him as he drank from Will's body. Sitting up, he pulled Will's mouth to his own again, sharing the taste in a depraved ballet of tongues and raw, animal desire. He slipped one thick finger inside Will, then quickly a second, as the omega opened up to him with sublime ease. “You were made for this, and I will take you and give you what you crave,” he said roughly.

The empath struggled to keep from crawling over the other man and taking what he wanted right there. Will bit Kaecilius’ lip, sucking on it as warm fluid dripped down his thighs and Kae’s fingers, desperately clutching to him. “Give me  _ your _ everything.”

Eyes glittering, Kae added a third finger, twisting them inside his body, working him open as his own hardness dug hard into Will's thigh. “Everything I am is a frightening thing, Will,” he said, answering the young man's bite by sinking his own sharp fangs into Will's neck, just above his scarred-over mating mark. Close to the tempting gland, but not close enough. He knew it would send Will spiraling.

“I’ve looked the devil in the eye-- are you worse, Kaecilius?” Will asked through bated breaths, panting through ragged groans as he writhed down on the other man’s fingers, taking them easily with his slicked up hole. He palmed down the back of Kae’s head, holding him to that spot as his body shuddered with need.

Holding himself over Will with powerful forearms, Kae's eyes glittered, and he gave in to his biological need as it twisted with an unquenchable thirst for the man under him. “The devil is a plaything for my master,” he whispered darkly, entering the young man with a low growl, his engorged cock coated in Will's slick on the very first thrust.

“But not you?” Will gasped out, legs spread wide and held over Kae’s shoulders, taking him in deeply on first thrust. The Omega keened, head lolling back against the bed once more, exposing his neck to the Alpha.

The silky constriction of Will's body gripped him inch by inch. Kae had not indulged his rut in years, and never met such a dominant, audacious omega, one that fascinated him and drew him in like Will did. “He's nothing compared to me, soon he will bow to me, serve me,” Kae groaned out, gasping and biting against his mouth at how wet and tight he felt.

Will, it seemed, attracted a type, not that he could complain, his own ego was blown wide open for a time, and honestly being the subject of desire of a man with such training as Kae made it inflate just a bit more. Whether what Kae was saying were true or not, it did send a thrill through Will’s spine, eliciting a groan from him. “What will that make me?” he asked against Kae’s mouth, biting his lips in turns, enough to draw blood.

“What do you want it to make you? Immortal, all powerful,” Kae grazed his teeth along Will's mating gland, now openly scraping against it, aching to bite. The blood drawn in lust only fueled the sorcerer’s ravenous urges, as he pounded Will over and over, the younger man's wetness coating both of them in the aroma of fruit-tinged thick, musky sex.

_ Your’s _ , Will thought, blindly, as his body filled with pleasure, heated to the core, not able to say much else as groans emitted through him, chanting Kae’s name like a prayer. Will knew he’d become an addict in the days to follow with his heat in full. He gripped Kae’s hair, undoing the bands that kept it back, letting it flow down his shoulders and face, and then gripped it tightly, a force to be reckoned with, Will was not an Omega who did anything too submissively.

Kae plundered Will's mouth and body, and leaned up on one arm to stroke down Will's frame with the other. He twisted a nipple, dipping his head down to lathe his tongue over it, teeth grazing the pebbling nub. Sparks seemed to fly from their bodies, until finally he clutched Will's cock, sliding his rough hand over the satiny skin, coating it with the omega's slick and pumping him. “Will...you have awoken something in me...the sleeping beast who ravages and devours its untamed prey,” he panted, thrusting faster feverishly.

Will ate the words from the Alpha’s mouth, hands up around his neck, pressing his thumbs into his pulse there, feeling the ravaging heart beat that seemed to bleed and pulse, just for him. Nearing his peak, Will bucked up, grinding himself into the man, getting him as far inside his body as he could manage. “Devour me.”

The sorcerer knelt between the young man's parted thighs, and gripped each leg against his chest, shifting himself to pound Will as hard as he could. His ass flexed powerfully, long strands of silver and ashen hair falling in his face. Kae fought to center all his energy on the act, struggling to push aside his overwhelming desire to claim him, make him only his. “Will, Will, Will,” he grunted, his voice taking on an almost demonic quality, darkness rolling off him in billowing whorls of smoke.

Fingers threaded through those silvery strands, holding tightly as his head tilted back once more in ecstasy, starting to come in waves of pleasure that overtook every sense he had, clouding his sight with darkness as white hot heat coursed through him. “Kae-”

Kaecilius roared, a bellowing howl that shook both of them as his orgasm tore through his body with tremulous force. An obscene amount of seed filled the young man fully, and within seconds his knot inflated, sealing him tight against the empath. His breath came out in ragged pants as he fell forward atop Will, holding him to his chest, moving their mouths together and feeding from Will's lips like a starving man.

Another groan growled through the Omega, and Will clutched Kae’s shoulder so they couldn’t part, there were no seams to be ripped, just melded. He panted against his mouth, slowly coming down as his hips rode out the little give he had, but soon stopped, knotted together. Will’s body hummed, just as it used to do with Hannibal.

“Will, I want to take care of you through this, allow me,” Kaecilius exhaled against Will’s neck as he rolled to adjust them so he could lay behind the omega. Their bodies tangled together, and the older man wrapped himself around Will possessively, surrounding him in a heated embrace.

Will accommodated where he could and then pressed back against the other man, the serene feeling of an Alpha around and him in was almost too good. Once upon a time, he’d never wanted that, not ever. It felt almost like coming home, familiar and warm. “Yes.”

Kae coiled around the young man, his mind swirling with thoughts. If the Ancient One found out he was in rut and was consorting in this manner with an omega, she'd undoubtedly cast him out, but he didn't care. He'd already had enough of her and her utter hypocrisy. The apprentices were taught to live an almost monastic life, abstaining from meat and sex. The Alphas and Omegas alike were trained to use magic to combat their biological urges, and it had worked until Will. Will had a power over Kae already.

“You’re thinking too loud,” Will hummed, wrapped up in Kae, he hadn’t felt this blissful in a long time, as if he might actually sleep well and not have nightmares anymore of that fateful night.

Kae felt his knot loosen, but stayed connected with the beautiful young man, turning him gently to face him. He slid down a bit so he could nestle his nose in the crook of Will's neck, inhaling the scent that made him feel more whole than he had in forever. “Perhaps I am. I just find it strange how drawn I am to you. My magic has worked for years, combating my urges and keeping me focused. But you...you are special, Will.” He sighed and kissed Will's jaw line, his teeth only brushing the barest hint along the man's soft beard. “I will train you but we will need to stay together a few days, until this passes. I can't let anyone see you like this. They'll know, and they may cast me out.”

“I’ll go wherever you need,” Will whispered back, nuzzling his face back against Kae’s, utterly content in this moment. “I don’t want to be burden to you.”

“A burden? You're many things, but not that.” The older man's eyes burned into Will, sated for the moment but his hunger ever-present. “I will sleep here tonight, with you. It will be better for both of us, as you may need me in the night.”

Will hummed at that, well aware that his heat was bound to be long and needy. “It’s morning,” Will chuckled, and gazed at Kae. “But I didn’t sleep well. You could help that, too.”

Kae's amber gaze fell to the younger man's full, red lips. “Want me to take you over and over until you're boneless with pleasure, don't you?” Kae asked, running a fingertip along the seam of his mouth and looking back up into turbulent blue eyes.

“If you wouldn't mind?” Will  linked, damn batting long dark lashes up at Kae, as if knowing exactly what would set the other man off, how work over his pleasure center, his wants and needs from Will. He hooked his thigh over Kae's hip, and pushed him down as they rolled, Will slipping over top of him, straddling thick thighs with his hands deep in the thicket of fur on his chest.

The sorcerer filled and hardened instantly, Will’s weight atop him spiking that incendiary blaze in his core that only the young man had been able to ignite. Will slipped Kae back inside him, slowly rutting down to get his cock deep inside, hips undulating to rock the tip against his prostate. The older man gasped and buried his fingertips into the omega’s hips as his rigid flesh was so rapidly engulfed in sweet, tight heat. Will’s wetness coated his flesh, copiously drenching them both, and Kae rolled his hips up into the younger man, all traces of gentleness erased. Their bodies slipped against each other, sweat and slick combining, their heavy, rasping moans echoing against the soft slap of skin against skin.

“Kae-” Will panted, rolling and lifting up, taking the other man’s cock in deeper and deeper, until his head started to hang forever, dripping sweat through brown chocolate curls. Will’s fingers slid through Kae’s chest hair slowly, rubbing over nipples, pinching hard.

Kaecilius dragged Will’s mouth down to his, groaning raggedly. “I need you, Will, I need you,” he huffed out, his voice deep and exotic accent thick. He pumped into him relentlessly, his muscles glistening in a fine sheen of sweat, body hair dampening under the exertion of their coupling. The wildness, the animalistic roughness of the smaller man shocked him; he was unlike any omega he’d ever known, taking what he wanted boldly, using Kae for his own pleasure.   

“Have me-- take me,” Will groaned against Kae’s mouth, biting the words into his lips, sharp and piercing as the words were to hear. Rearing his head back, Will started to shake with lust, pleasure coursing through his lithe frame, toned but honed like an Omega should be.

Staring in raw lust at the debauched image before him, his mouth hung open as the god-like young man’s lean, muscled form twisting and writhing above him, long neck exposed temptingly, making Kae want so powerfully to bite, bite hard and  _ claim him _ . A deep rumbled tore through his throat, his fingernails clawing down his sides and digging into his ass, encouraging him to ride harder.  “Going to fill you with my seed, Will, gods save me, you feel so exquisite…”  

Each passing grind of hips turned shorter and shorter until Will was feeling Kae’s cock right up against his sweet spot, pressed in with powerful, hard thrusts, leaving them utterly connected as the omega came for a second time, in gushes. Will gripped Kae’s chest as his body shook hard, pumping come against his stomach.

Will's come geysered from his pink-tipped cock, and the rippling squeeze milked Kae's own climax right from him. It tore through like an earthquake, a kaleidoscope of stars and colors in his eyes as he held Will's eyes with his own, thrusting in and out brutally rough, his hands clamped fiercely on Will's hips. He threw his head back as the last of it rode through him in waves. “Will...” he whispered, his voice deep and raw. He pulled the young man down on top of him, their bodies sealed together.

They slowed, panting and breathing in one another, eye contact held for far longer than any other time Will preferred with anyone but… He licked his lips, and kissed Kae, softer now, sweetly, tasting his every breath.

Kae moved them, first to their sides, and keeping them connected, rolled to lay over the omega. He pressed Will into the mattress with his weight, long hair hanging in silver tendrils over broad, tanned shoulders. His full lips curled into a smile as he looked adoringly down at Will. This beautiful, strange, strong-willed omega would be his, he knew it. No matter what magic he had to show him, he'd do anything. “Do you feel you can rest now, handsome Will?”   

“For a while,” Will whispered, exhausted now, but he knew he’d be up and ready to go later, but for now he hugged Kae to him, running fingers through his long strands of hair.

Kae felt sleep overwhelming him too, and drifted off, his body still knotted deep inside Will. He cradled the younger omega against him like a cherished gem, warm and nestled close in bed.


	3. Chapter 3

A tall, elegant figure in a hooded robe made her way down the halls to Will's door. The young man had been here a few days now, not interacting with anyone but Kaecilius. She knew clearly what it was Kae was up to, but was curious to see this Omega for herself. The Ancient One was a rare female Alpha, having never taken a partner; she'd never had need, and had certainly more than mastered her own biological functions. She was hundreds of years old, seen lifetimes come and go, the most powerful and wise of the magicians here. In spite of Kae's obvious straying from the path, she kept him there in hopes that perhaps he might still find his way back. When he'd arrived, he was such a different, broken man. Much like this little one. She knocked on the door, waiting.

Will untangled himself from Kaecilius, still very much in his heat, and pulled on something to wear, though still too large, it was better than nothing at all. He padded to the door, not sure who it might be, but Kae was out cold, having done nothing buck mate for the last day. Will opened the door, and stared at the woman there.

“Can I help you?”

“Hello, Will. Are you busy right now?” She looked him up and down with an arched eyebrows. Pale as a ghost, she focused her striking eyes solely on the Omega, almost looking through him. “I know you've only recently joined us. I wanted to speak to you.”

Will stepped out and shut the door behind him to keep Kae inside. “I’m free now.”

The woman nodded placidly, a peaceful but barely perceptible smile on her lips. She seemed to transcend gender, at least a head taller than Will, and even her age was hard to place. She seemed timeless. She gazed at the young man gently. “What brings you to our temple, Will? What is it you seek here within our walls?”

“Peace,” Will explained, quietly, not going into detail on his own life, he knew he wouldn’t need to-- she knew.

The graceful lady folded her hands in front of her, opting against touching the young man’s hand, knowing his heightened sensitivity would be too greatly affected by connecting to her. It was too soon. “Seek and you shall find. An archaic saying from a dead book, and yet there is great meaning behind it. We manifest our own realities in the simplicity and ease of a thought. But, I know Kae has already begun to show you these things,” she said quietly. The Ancient One didn't want to cast doubt on him, knowing a bond had already been forged between them. She also knew Kae had already spoken of her to Will, and thus she decided to tread lightly. “I'm the chief master of the Mystical Arts here. I'd invite you to consider meeting with me at perhaps a ...more appropriate time?” she sniffed at the air subtly, indicating her awareness of his heat. “Be cautious. Not everyone is as they seem. I can see you have a keen sense of instinct, a hard-won wisdom and remarkable potential for greater ability. Ask for me, should you wish to find true peace, Will.”

No, not everyone was as they seemed to be, not even The Ancient One, which was easily seen through for Will, as something was off, not quite right, and yet the peace was blinding, and yet stifling all at once. “No, not everyone is as they seem,” Will agreed, less pleasant Omega by the second as he stood there with her. “Thank you, I’m sure when my predicament is over I can seek you out.”

She nodded, acknowledging his statement wordlessly, and with a cryptic blankness to her features, turned to leave.

Will took that as his leave, and slipped back into the room he occupied and locked the door behind him. He went and sat down with Kae, watching him sleep, touching his long silvery hair, well aware that he was completely blinded by anything horrible that Kae could be keeping from him because of his attachment already-- because of how Kae looked.

Kae heard everything, his senses keenly honed, particularly where The Ancient One was concerned. He remained still as Will reentered, and when he sat, reveled in the way the young man caressed his hair with a certain reverent desire. He stirred, allowing the pretense of being roused by the Omega's touch. The elder man looked down at Will, honeyed eyes softened with sleep. “Hello, Will,” he said in a rough voice, even still, a certain polished lilt to his tone.

The younger man stilled as he saw a life before this one flash in front of his eyes, things he’d forgotten about in the last few days or so. His hand trembled slightly as it threaded through long ashen hair, and he moved to lie down with Kae, to reassure himself. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Well I am awake, and yours to do with as you please,” Kae purred in a deep, sleepy voice. He rolled to his side, resting part of his weight on Will’s body, pressing his morning erection into the younger man’s thigh.

Will bit the inside of his cheek and then stripped out of his shirt and pants once more, tossing them to the ground, and then curled his bare thigh around Kae’s hip, rutting against him at just the thought of getting fucked again. His heats always had a powerful hold on him, emotionally and empathically connected. “How am I supposed to find any peace when we’re always fucking?” he whispered, pressing a hot kiss to Kae’s mouth.

The Alpha growled at the words, pulling Will's tongue into his mouth and devouring him as if to suck the very breath from his lungs. “I'll tell you a little secret, Will. Peace is overrated,” he whispered, smirking and grazing sharp teeth along his neck. “Power is far better. The power of passion, of desire, of the mastery of magic, all of it. We speak of peace to make the process more inviting,” he added, rolling his hips and gripping Will's cock firmly. “I hope you find this inviting enough,” he said raggedly, the scent of Will's slick making him feral with lust.

The Omega was mostly teasing, his peace had taken a back burner, his depression and desperation to forget his mate and move on had boiled and spilled over, and Kae had quickly taken up his mind space instead. “Very,” Will groaned, rolling his hips into Kae’s hand, head lolled back on his neck, exposing his scarred over gland.

The sorcerer felt his biology come to full heat when the younger man exposed his neck. He began to pant heavily and pushed Will down, deliberately dragging his coarse, thick chest hair across Will's sensitive nipples. He pumped the younger man's length with one hand, the other muscular arm coming down along Will's head, cradling him close, and licked over the scar, desperately fighting the chant of _bite, claim, mate, mine_ pounding feverishly in his soul. Perhaps he couldn't fight it much longer, still he held fast.

Will made a keening sound, soft in his chest, rumbling out before he could stop it, hips bucking for friction as he clawed up Kae’s back, wantonly. “Take me again,” he whispered, not one to beg often, but Kae’s scent overwhelmed him, clouded his vision with hot lust.

Kaecilius pushed Will's thighs up, spreading him open and dipping one finger between the omega's leaking entrance. In such a short time he'd contracted as tight as ever, squeezing around thick fingers. “Already so tight and wet for me. You're a devil in an angel's body, Will,” he said, sucking hot kisses along Will's collarbone and up his jaw.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Will groaned, nuzzling his head against Kae’s, getting every press of lips against his skin that he could, burning up with lust for the man over him.

The older man ground his large alpha cock against Will’s muscular calf as he added a third finger, scissoring and twisting in over and over, working him open patiently in spite of his febrile thirst. “I want all of you. The darkness, the light, the pain alongside the beauty, Will.” He fastened soft lips over the younger man’s adam’s apple, hard and desperate for more of him.

Will’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he panted out ragged breaths. He reached to fist Kae’s cock, thumbing over the wet tip as his heated body went into utter bliss, spreading and moulding against the other man as if his body somehow new every muscle and bone already. “Take me; I’m yours.”

Kaecilius could bear the ache in his loins no longer, and took his cock from Will's hands, pressing against his opening and sliding inside. He relaxed just the perfect amount to allow him entry, a deluge of wetness seeping out as it was displaced by the older man's generous girth. Kae moaned loudly, Will's name on his tongue as he sank all the way inside. “Will...Will...”

Will sucked the words off Kae’s lips, and kissed him hard as their bodies melded together once more, like a perfect puzzle. He wrapped strong arms around the other man and canted his hips to lock them together. “Kae-”

The large Alpha began rocking his hips slowly, dragging his thick, heavy meat all the way out, making sure Will could feel every vein, every bump, every painful inch of him as he drove back inside. Fully sheathed in his dripping heat, Kae couldn't stop himself from beginning to gnaw hungrily over Will’s scarred-over mating gland. He groaned helplessly, and could nearly taste the younger man’s blood as it thrummed in his neck.

Writhing, Will held fast to Kae, panting out huffed breaths as his body quickly began to build up, every inch of him on fire with lust and pleasure. Mating with Kae felt right, it was perfect and they fit together just as well as he and Hannibal had, which made straining his head back to bear his neck to Kae all the more set, like intuition.

The scent of the Omega surround the older man, bathing him in a swirling, unrelenting maelstrom of sweetness that was distinctly Will. As the young man arched and moaned beneath him, Kae felt his knot thickening further with each battering thrust. He yanked Will’s neck back, overcome by his feral desire, and sank his sharp fangs through the thickened patch of scar tissue at the juncture of Will’s neck and shoulder. Coppery blood spilled into his mouth, tangy and fruitfully sweet; he fed from the young omega as though his life depended upon consuming him. “Will, _mine_ Will, you're mine,” he chanted, sparks flying from his eyes, and he plundered the young man’s mouth with ardent fervor.

Gasping through each groan, Will arched and squirmed up uncontrollably with the bite. Their fates were sealed with one another now, locked in as the mating scar was bitten over and reclaimed. The Omega wouldn't think of anything but the impending ball of fire etched into his spine, threatening to spill.

Kaecilius underestimated how intensely the young man's life force would affect him; unable to hold to the edge of the slippery cliff of his own pleasure, he found himself spiraling down, the very essence of Will consuming him whole, more powerful than anything he'd ever experienced. Crimson stained his sharp teeth as he opened his eyes and looked down at Will, lips parted and panting desperately. It seemed like forever as he pounded against the omega's responsive depths, feeling every gasp and moan capture and pull him under like a violent tsunami.  

“Kae-” Will gasped, finally spiralling himself, exploding like he hadn’t come in days, arms and legs hooked around him, as their new bond formed, entrapping them both in some supernatural like wave length.

Lightning seemed to shoot straight through Kae’s body as he came again within seconds, more of his hot seed shooting up into Will’s body in a tremulous torrent. He thickened quickly, and now tied to Will, he continued to move just the slightest bit- as much as his knot would allow. The sorcerer held on desperately to the younger man as he gasped to regain his breath. Coming down from the bliding high of his climax, Kae sucked gently at the new wound along Will’s neck, tender but needy little licks, sensuously possessive. _My Omega, all mine,_ he thought to himself, his mind short-circuited by the raw pleasure and bliss of their connection.  

The sort of emotional connection Will had once with Hannibal was now all too familiar again, melding with Kaecilius as they become one. His trembling limbs wrenched around the other man, keeping him close as their bodies clenched, keeping them knotted together, mind and soul. “Kae…”

The older man held Will close, his breath calming down, trying to grasp what had just happened. He had mated Will. They were bound together now, unable to be torn apart or separated. It was a foolish move, one that threatened his ambitions, unless of course...unless Will could be persuaded to join him and follow his path to darkness. He could see the bottomless pool of darkness that seeped from Will's pores, as though he were born in it and had long ago accepted his destiny. In this moment though, all he could truly hold onto was that Will was his, and he was Will's.

The howl of darkness was always just within reach for Will, no matter how much denial he gave, it ached through him, stroked by the fingers of Hannibal first, and now Kae. Will was not unaware. He nosed against Kae, everything falling into place. He would have to trust he'd be treated well, just as he has trusted Hannibal, even after everything.

Kae rubbed his nose in the crook of Will’s neck, scenting him and nearly purring in contentment and delight. “We should get you some food, something to keep up your strength, dearest Will,” he whispered, kissing along the soft hair that covered his jaw. “I’ll get it for you. You’re my...my mate now, Will. I hope…” the older man paused, not even sure what he meant to say. _I hope you don’t mind_ seemed a bit underwhelming at this stage. “I hope you don’t regret what I’ve done,” he finally said. It was a vulnerable confession, and Kaecilius was never one to reveal weakness, but it came out before he could stop it. Something in the Omega disarmed him. Would it be his undoing? It was too late for regrets now.

“I might be your mate, now, but I am not incapable,” Will reminded, touching Kae’s face, and pulling him back toward him, to scent the Alpha again, a reminder. “You’ve done nothing I haven’t allowed.”

The sorcerer couldn’t get enough of Will’s aroma, from the moment the young man’s blood had touched his tongue, he knew it was an addiction from which he’d never be free. “I’m thrilled you feel that way. I never saw myself mating with anyone. You have captivated me, Will.” Kae kissed him again deeply, and rolled to the side to get up and find them some food. He stood, pulling on his trousers and robe. “I’ll only be a moment...”

Will sat up on his forearms, watching Kae with a half smirk, hair sweaty and his face all over again. “Don’t be too long?”

Kae stood in the doorway, staring longingly at Will before turning to leave.

He made his way hastily down the corridor to the kitchen. Stopping first in the baths, he splashed water on his face and pulled his long, messy hair into a bun atop his head. He couldn’t completely clean up, but at least he could look a little less like he’d spent the night in a rut-filled haze. Satisfied, he continued to collect their food.

“You’ve been busy, Kaecilius,” an icy voice stopped him in his tracks as he ladled soup into two bowls.

Not turning to acknowledge her, he sighed. “Master,” was all he said, not admitting to anything. The Ancient One placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him to face her.

“What you’re doing risks everything you’ve worked for,” she said quietly, seeking out his gaze. Kae didn’t meet her eyes until she finally touched the bottom of his chin. “It’s been a lifetime since you first entered my temple, dear one. I can see the evil you’ve allowed back inside washing over you and clouding you in it’s inky tendrils. You _can’t_ return to the past. I’m asking you to please reconsider your path,” she said, her voice like a warm breeze, but it only fell hollow on Kae’s heart.

He set his jaw obstinately. “If you wish to chastise me, just do it and be done. I have nothing to confess. This is pointless,” he replied.

She smiled at him and nodded. “You’ll do as you’ve set out to, then.” The woman turned and left suddenly, leaving a void in the space she once stood that felt like a winter chill deep in Kae’s bones.

Shaking his head, he gathered the food on a tray and walked back to Will’s room. _Do as I say, not as I do,_ he thought to himself bitterly.        

Will dressed in just a pair of slacks, standing by the window, looking out over the snow swept scene. “Back?” he looked over at Kae, blinking. “What's wrong?”

Kae set the food down on the desk and walked across the room to Will. “The Ancient One. She knows. She...she’s not what she seems, Will.” The man paced back and forth. “She’ll try to tear us apart, but she’ll fail. I won’t let anyone take you from me,” he said finally, collecting Will’s hands in his own and turning his wrists over. Brushing his lips over the Omega’s pulse, he could feel the blood thrumming through his veins, in sync with his own.  

“I don’t really take to threats well,” Will said, remembering talking to the woman, being a bit uneasy, but Will was like that with most people. “I’ve never let that stop me.”

“You’re very unique. I saw it in you the first time I laid eyes on you. I…I felt the connection to you. What she’s done is beyond hypocrisy, and I believe soon we will have to leave this place. No matter what, I’ll protect you with my life,” Kaecilius said.

Will knew Kaecilius meant it, even if the Omega hardly needed protecting. However, Will also knew there were things in this world that he couldn’t fight, but Kae could. He swallowed, touching Kae’s face with one hand, jaw shifting as words failed him, brow knit together. He pulled Kae to himself instead. Their connection was just as strong as the one he had had with Hannibal, and he made no mistake in the realization that they looked very much alike.

Kaecilius inhaled deeply. The scent of the Omega was comforting and familiar and filled him with longing. He kissed Will’s shoulder, over another scar, and brushed his hands over the younger man’s abdomen, fingers skittering softly across the long mark, the skin darker and rougher along what appeared to have at one time been a severe wound. “Come, eat with me.”   

Will’s sucked in a breath at the touch and then moved with Kae to the small table, and sat down. He was happy not to talk about the scars, especially the one across his stomach, as it had long since been buried in his past, though a constant reminder of the things he could never have.

“You are beautiful to me, you know,” Kae said simply, picking up a spoon.

“Beautiful?” Will knit his brows together, watching Kae before he did the same.

“You're exquisite, just as you are. Your...your body is the canvas that holds the story of your life. I know yours has been painful, yet like a sword forged in fire, you've emerged sharp, powerful, beholden to no one. I've never met anyone like you, Will, but I feel as though I've known you all my life.” Kae ate some of his soup and examined the young man.

Will looked down at the soup, never one to be self conscious of his looks, but every scar and wound seemed to burn right then, especially the ones brought on by Hannibal, as if reminding him of who he belonged to first. But, Hannibal was dead, and Will was finding a deep, dark solace in Kae, a kinship he needed, and devoured wholly.

“They say that finding your soulmate can do that,” Will whispered, and sipped soup from his spoon.

“Is that what you believe we are? I think so too, Will.” The older man couldn't stop staring at Will, admiring his beauty. Kae set down his utensil and leaned closer to Will, gently placing his hand atop the mating wound on his neck. It was covered in dried blood, but as Kae touched him, the skin began to come together, healing it. The scar was visible, as it always would be, but he mended the flesh with the magic of his hand. He brushed the back of his knuckles across Will's cheek tenderly.  

“I believe in a lot of things, and I can’t unsee what I see in you, and how I feel around you,” Will explained, watching Kae as the wound healed, as he touched him with such tenderness he couldn’t help but think of past lives, if such things existed.

“It is remarkable how we were both led to this place. To each other. I came here, I felt empty, loss, loneliness. The skills I've learned here have brought me power beyond my wildest dreams, but, you...you seem to have awakened something in me I don't remember.” He shook his head, beginning to eat once again. “There's so much I want to show you, but we may not be safe here much longer. I think She wants to remove me. She's afraid I will expose her since I've learned her secret. I'm confident we will be alright. We just may need to move once you're out of your heat,” the sorcerer explained.    

“That will not be long, I hope. I’m not so young anymore,” Will said, sipping his soup. He sighed heavily. “We’ll be fine. I’m… always fine. Surviving is what I do-- what we’ll do.”

“I think we've both lived a hundred lives to get here.” Kae found himself again lost in staring at the handsome young man, and he finished his soup. “Perhaps we should clean up. I know I need a shower...” he said, reaching out again to touch the Omega's hand.

“Shower,” Will said, and set the soup down and stood. He took Kae’s hand, and scooped for two towels.

Kae carried the tray out, setting it in the hall near the door, and led Will down to the baths. It was mid-morning, and most people had already used them for the day; it stood empty. Even still as they walk inside, Kae conjures a lock; as it’s a public facility, it has none. The last thing they need is someone walking in on them.

Will waited until they were locked in and then stripped down out of his pants he wore, and then set the towels to the side. He walked over to Kae, nothing said, as he stared to help him out of his clothes as well. The older man reached up to pull his hair down, letting Will remove his clothes. He stepped out of his pants, letting them fall to the floor; every brush of the Omega’s hands against his skin felt like fire. Kae stared intensely into his eyes, his breath deepening.

Reaching behind him, Will turned on the shower nearest them, never letting his gaze falter from Kae’s. He stepped back, and then again, beckoning the other man to follow him into the shower.

Kae swore the young man resembled a work of art, a siren luring him willingly under the warm spray of water. He stepped in, rivulets of water flowing over thick cords of muscle, across his dark skin. Will’s curls began to cling to his neck, and Kaecilius reached for him, running his hand down the younger man’s chest. His own blood thrummed loud in his ears as he felt the desire for the young man build again, as if they hadn't spent all night in each other's arms.

Echoing Kae’s movements, Will ran his hands down his broad chest, through the thicket of hair that was now matted down under the spray of water. His fingers spread through it and then up into his long hair and pulled Kae into a deep kiss. Kae lapped into Will's mouth, moaning deep as he slid inside, tasting him, sucking the younger man's tongue hard. An unspoken hunger came out in his touch, in the frantic way he almost pawed at Will's body. It was as though he couldn't touch enough of him at once, and he shifted his thick thigh between Will's legs, backing him against the shower wall.     

The Omega pressed back against the wall, cool against his heated, flushed skin, and pulled Kae closer, rubbing himself against the other man’s thigh. Animalistic need took over Will at even the slightest touch from the Alpha, their magnetism to each other was unheaded. He delved his tongue against Kae’s, lathing the wet muscles together.

“I want you, only for me, only mine, Will. I can't replace your old mate but I wish I could resurrect him only to kill him again and make you mine from the _start_ ,” Kae babbled, his voice low and rough. His cock hung heavy between his thighs, hardening fully even as he spoke. He brushed his lips along every scar and mark on Will's skin, starting at his neck and working his way down, sucking and worrying at every ridge of flesh with his teeth and tongue. He lowered himself down the length of Will's body, worshiping him, laving his tongue over the deep mark along his belly. His hands and mouth burned to memorize every line and contour, and when he finally took Will's pink-tipped cock between his lips, he swallowed him down with a fury that illustrated his passion for the man.   

Hands dropping to Kae’s shoulders, Will found himself ripped between being angry about the remark, and too turned on to even think about it more than the whisper of a moment it came and went with.

Will squeezed hot, bronze skin with his fingers, watching Kae as he tongued the scar that very nearly killed Will years and years ago. “Yours now.”

Kae lapped Will's full balls into his mouth, rolling them gently one at a time. He ran his fingers up between Will's legs, fingering the slick dripping down his thighs already, and turned him around.

Even in their short time together, the man had become absolutely addicted to the taste of Will's body, every inch of it. He began licking at Will's hole, flattening his tongue and circling the rim, pulling his ass cheeks apart and exposing him fully to the onslaught. Kae dragged teeth over the ripe, round globes, working his tongue over his Omega's entrance.  

Palms flat to the wall, slicked and threatening to slide, Will arched his ass back into Kae’s tongue, completely losing all thought of anything said before, the only thing that came to mind was how to get Kae inside him and fill him fully the fastest. It was a struggle, wanting the tease to never end, and wanting his Alpha to pin him to the wall and fuck him senseless.

Kae slid two fingers easily into Will, his body clearly ready and begging for him. He moved his fingers in deeply, crooking his knuckles and curving the pads of his fingertips up to tease inside the young man. He brushed over it, never quite applying enough pressure, just enough to send sparks through Will. He rhythmically stroked from the inside out, his tongue still licking skillfully around his fingers, pulsing against him just _so_. “You want me, Will?” he asked from beneath the handsome young man, who looked already taken apart and flushed, his body stretching beneath the sorcerer’s pleasurable assault.

“I’d be lying if I said no right now,” Will whispered, steam filling the room, making everything hotter, his skin especially. “Take me, Kaecilius.”

The older man stood, raking his nails up the backs of Will’s thighs, and pressed in behind him, slowly entering Will’s body with his excruciatingly large Alpha cock. Kae breached his entrance, the younger man’s slick dribbling down his legs; he felt universes exploding behind his eyes from the intense sensations with which Will permeated him entirely. Kae clamped his large hands around Will’s body, holding tight against his back. “My beautiful Will,” he panted.

Will’s head lolled back on his neck, every sensitive piece of him was on fire right now. He rolled his hips back, slowly, panting, taking every last bit of Kae’s huge cock. “I swear you were made for doing this to me…”

“You...you were made to take me, Will. I'm yours, all yours,” he exhaled heavily. Kae canted his hips up, careful to pull almost all the way out before sliding back in, down to the root, Will's body offering the perfect balance of tight, velvety heat, yet sucking him in with every stroke. He sucked all along the back of Will's neck, pushing him against the wall, bracing him there for leverage. He whispered in some foreign language, words that couldn't quite be made out, his mind a fog of pheromones, lust and love.    

So lost in his head, taking in every last bit of Kae’s emotional feedback and mixing it with his own, Will hardly heard the words whispered, so familiar that his body responded by arching back again, panting. He understood the words, and the next that came out of his mouth were ones he couldn’t help, the response was simply one he was honed to; “I love you.”

Kae's breath caught in his throat; he heard Will clearly, and something inside him pulled loose at the response. He'd stop to consider it later; right now, all he could focus on was the younger man's insatiable hunger, matched equal with his own. “I love you, Will,” he gasped out, voice ragged, and he took the young man's sharp jaw in his hand, wrapped around his body, twisting his own body around while lodged deep, feasting from Will's mouth with a desperate fervor.   

The empath groaned against Kae’s mouth, leaned back into him, twisting and turning, somehow managing to get their bodies so close together and connected, it was almost if they were conjoined. “Kae…” he breathed through one of the heated kisses, against his mouth as he sucked lasciviously on his tongue.

“You're my past, my present and my future, Will. It's as though,” Kae paused, biting Will's lips and piercing him with wicked teeth, his mouth curled into a near-snarl as blood beaded sweet on his tongue, “as though I never knew myself before I met you.” The man couldn't explain the unfathomable connection he felt to to Will, but to him, it surpassed the biology of their bond.

Will’s mouth hung open at the words, blood dripping from his pierced lip, his breath hitching in his just in such a way he wasn’t sure he was breathing at all. Whatever thought trailed through the railroads of his mind seemed to come to a crash halt. He could not and would not think or fathom what he was about to, and instead kissed Kae harder, sealing their fates with tongue and teeth.

Kaecilius continued the punishing pace of his hips, pounding into Will unrelentingly, feeling himself nearer and nearer the edge. He could bear it no more, though he tried to hold back, tasting Will's essence unlocked something in him, a long forgotten lust, and seeing the blood shared between their mouths, the sorcerer lost himself entirely, coating the young man deep inside with his seed. His hand never faltered in stroking Will, even as his hips stuttered in ecstasy. He was lost for words entirely, only able to emit the guttural groans emanating from deep in his chest.   

The Omega keened, panting heavy breaths into the air, his body tightening around Kae’s cock as he started to throb with pleasure, every bone in his body like liquid fire as he spilled copiously around the Alpha’s knuckles and down his cock.

Kae brought his hand to his lips, eager to taste all the young man had to offer, every bit of him. Kae was full of him, blood and come now covering his tongue, the decadent, rich sweetness satisfying him like nothing else. He rubbed over the mark along his neck, relishing the heady feeling of being so connected to this bewitching, alluringly dark young man with the haunted eyes that seemed to lose all fear in his arms.

They were sealed together for the time being, Kae's body swollen inside holding his seed inside. He reached for a bar of soap to begin washing Will under the warm water still flowing over them.  

However it was they came together, Will knew there would be nothing that would part them now. He leaned back into Kae, letting the warm water rain down over his scar ridden skin as the other man cleaned away sweat and dried come from earlier. The silence between them was comfortable, not at all strange.

The older man ran his soapy hands over Will’s body tenderly, moving over every mark and bruise as though he was the most breathtaking vision he’d ever seen. To Kaecilius, he was. He lathered up Will’s neck, still behind him, fingertips massaging Will’s jaw line, his cheek, over the healed wound even there, over his soft beard, down his long neck again. “Every inch of you, Will, is like a work of art,” he whispered. “You are a wonder.”

The more Will gave in to the strong desires of his new mate, the more it felt familiar and perfectly shaped to be with him. Kae's scent lingered around him, even with the soaps and shampoo. “You…” what could he say here? Sound like my dead mate? Remind me of him? Will swallowed. “Thank you.”

As the Alpha softened and slipped out of Will, he turned him around, pressing his back against the shower wall, and kissed him deeply, sliding his tongue inside slowly and exploring with languid strokes of the strong muscle. Will tasted like cherries, something forbidden, yet intimate and familiar. His damp chest hair brushed against Will’s smoother chest, their wet bodies slipping against each other, ensconced in steam.

Kae proceeded to wash Will’s hair first, then his own, dripping tendrils of silver falling around his face, clinging to his neck.  Will helped with Kae’s hair, letting his fingers feel the softness, running his hands through it, like reading his favorite book, thoroughly and concentrated.

“When will we go?”

The older man leaned into Will’s hands, eyes closed, finding it utterly satisfying and sweet to enjoy his attentions. He sighed contentedly. “Knowing the way the Ancient One tends to react to things, it may be sooner rather than later. I’ll need to find us a new place to go, but we may have to simply stay wherever we can find for a few days. We should pack tonight and perhaps plan to leave in the morning.” Kae scooped warm water from the shower over Will’s skin, rubbing over his muscles, down his chest and back, and over his groin. He took the time and care to gently clean the younger man’s backside as well, his intention to soothe any soreness he might feel after their activity.

“Sounds like a plan,” Will whispered, head falling back against the shower wall, hips pivoted out and his thighs spread to let Kae wash and massage where he felt needed it the most. Will was just happy to be cared for, not that _he_ needed it, but it was nice.

Kae brushed his lips over Will’s back, kissing the freckles scattered across his broad shoulders. He found himself completely enamoured with every piece of skin, all the grooves and planes, his skin, both rough and smooth, and felt he couldn’t touch or taste him enough. His life an thoughts had previously only been occupied with Dormammu, with gaining more power and taking the few disillusioned with The Ancient One with him. But now he only wanted to leave with Will and teach him magic. It was strange how his priorities had changed after a few nights with the remarkable young man. He leaned down to turn off the water and get them a couple of fresh towels.

Will took a towel, and dried Kae’s hair first and then wrapped it around his hips, knotting it there for him, with a small smile. The intimacy they shared was familiar, easy even. So much that Will was almost afraid the whole thing was an illusion, that he’d wake soon, sweating, panting and alone.

“I know I’ve shown you some things that seemed fantastic, unreal. But this is very, very real,” Kae said, slipping his arm around Will’s waist and kissing him gently. Covering himself with a towel and gathering their clothes, he looked into the hall before guiding Will out, back to his room.


	4. Chapter 4

Kaecilius had his belongings packed and was conversing with one of his comrades, a fellow “doubter”, rebellious to The Ancient One’s teachings. “Zealots”, they called themselves, a name Kae had come up with to try and define themselves against what would certainly be all out war. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when, for even when Kae took his leave, many left behind were averse to the lies of The Ancient One. 

He packed only as much as he knew they’d need. He had contacted a local sympathizer in a village at the base of the mountain they were inhabiting; an older gentleman - a Beta - who had tangled with  _ Her _ once before, and now would do anything to help a defector. The man agreed to have a room ready for them, somewhere they could be safe and hide, if needed.

Before they set out, Kae wanted to make sure Will would be ready for their travels. He believed him to be at the end of his heat, but all the same, he checked his temperature, touching his face as Will got dressed in the custom-made clothes Kae had commissioned.

“I’m fine,” Will said, as Kae worried over him, wanting to be sure that they wouldn’t get caught up in anything they couldn’t get out of because of Will’s heat. He hadn’t had as much need in him now as he had before, but even still, Kae touching him sent waves of want through him.

Kaecilius felt it too, a burning in his palms with every contact of the young man. He nodded though, knowing they needed to be on their way, and collected their belongings. The sorcerer led Will by the hand to his own room, locking the door so they wouldn’t be disturbed. He knelt on the floor, facing East, and after a few deep breaths, began to maneuver his hands rapidly. As he did, a brisk wind blew and sparks began to fly from his fingertips. He began a swirling, twisting motion and soon, a fiery portal opened in front of them. Rising to his feet, he gathered their bags and took Will’s hand to lead him through the gate he’d made. “Ready?” he asked, pausing to look at the young man.   

Will only had what he came with and the new clothes, a light packer. Will walked through with Kae, into the unknown, trusting him completely, as he had to do with a mate. “Where are we going?”

“My friend in the village has a place for us to stay. The Ancient One will be looking for us, I’m afraid, so we’ll need to be careful. This man is a zealot, one who questions her like I do. He left, and now he lives here and teaches the mystical arts, too.” Kae closed the gateway behind them, and looked around. They were in an alley between narrow, tall but ancient-looking buildings, and the older man guided Will down into the street where they passed fruit carts and various vendors selling wares. Finally they reached another twisting narrow street that led away from the bustle, and off another path, they encountered a narrow, rust-colored door. Kae knocked twice sharply.

Will had trusted far less trustworthy people in his life, and could think of no reason why this would be different. He followed and waited, ever aware and ever present in their surroundings.

A man answered the door; old, white-haired, with a longish beard plaited into a single braid. He wore long brown robes, and smiled when he saw Kae. “I’ve been expecting you. Come in,” he said, embracing the sorcerer and gesturing for Will to enter. “Does she know?” he asked.

Kae nodded, setting down their bags. “I expect she does. She sees everything. I don’t know if she’ll pursue us,” he said quietly. “This is Will, my mate.”

Will simply nodded his head toward the new sorcerer, aware of his place, and  _ being _ of place. He stuck close to Kae, close to his side.

“It’s good that you’re here. You’ll be safe until you move on.” The old man turned to Will, smiling kindly. A strange look passed his eyes for the briefest moment, and he refrained from extending his hand. “I hope you don’t think me rude, Will. It’s good to meet you. I don’t like to touch people unless it’s absolutely necessary. Too much transferred energy,” he said, and shuffled into the kitchen to put a kettle on, waving his hands for them to follow him. “Baron Karl Amadeus Mordo. Make yourselves at home, gentlemen.”

Will shrugged his shoulder. “Not at all. I tend to take too much energy as it is,” he murmured, staying close to Kae.

The old man returned from the kitchen after a few minutes with a tray that held a steaming clay kettle and three mugs. Setting it down on a modestly sized glass table in the center of the room, he paused, looking back and forth curiously between the men.

“You’ve known each other before?” he asked.

“No,” Kaecilius replied. “We’ve only met recently, however it does seem as though it was fated. Will is a very special young man, an empath. I plan to train him in the mystical arts. In fact, we’ve already begun, to a small degree.”

A small smile befit Will’s features, a far off look in his eyes as the man said the very thing Will felt. It was on the tip of his tongue, but it couldn’t be reality. “Perhaps in another world.”

The older man cast a skeptical look at Kaecilius, but made no further issue of the matter. Kae took a sip of his tea. “More and more are disillusioned with the hypocrisy of The Ancient One. I’ve begun to think perhaps her power is not as great as she’d like to think. A seed that started as doubt is becoming action slowly but surely, Mordo.”

“A revolution is afoot,” Mordo nodded and shifted his attention back to Will. “You’ve entered the world of our magic at an very opportune time in history. However, for the time being, her attentions will be shifted to you. You must focus on remaining in hiding until we gain a better position to activate the rebellion and make sure all our zealots are fully prepared. It will be the best chance for you to intensify your training, Will.”

This was quickly starting to sound like less and less of thing Will understood, but he could not honestly tear himself from Kae, not after already experiences utter heartbreak once before. “All I’ve been doing is hiding.”

Kae wrapped an arm protectively around Will. “Fortunately I know most of the tricks she could have up her sleeve. You’re safe with me,” he said. Looking around the modest living room, he turned his attention back to Mordo. “Perhaps you can show us where we are to sleep?”

“Of course, this way.” The man rose and motioned for them to follow. He took them up two flights of stairs to the end of a short hall. “Yours, as long as you need,” he said, opening the door to a sparsely appointed room with a large four poster bed in the center, a fireplace and closet along another wall. It wasn’t luxurious, but it did look cosy and comfortable. “Enough room to teach him while you’re here. You can move the bed back to have more floor space if you wish.” The old man nodded, casting a long look at Will before turning to leave. Kae closed the door after them and set down their bags.

Will glanced around the room slowly, and then shed his jacket to the bed with a sigh. “He’s interesting.”

“We’re only here until I can find a more permanent place for us, but it may be for some time.” Kae sat on the bed, loosening his outer robes. “I’d like to begin your training as soon as possible. Perhaps tomorrow morning?”

“Whenever you’d like,” Will said, not quite as interested, but he had little choices these days, and surviving seemed adamant right now.

***

That night, Kae’s sleep was fitful. He never had difficulty sleeping, but that first night outside the temple, he was plagued with nightmares.

He trained Will during the day, showing him meditation techniques, guiding him in focusing his mind and taking him on journeys much like their first one, to other dimensions. Kae could tell the young man wasn’t giving it his full attention, or trying as much as he could, and Kae wasn’t sure how to get him past the block he seemed to have. But as his mate, he was determined to be patient with him no matter what.

  
Each night Kaecilius found rest elusive; the visions seemed to persist as time wore on. One night, like the others before, he awoke covered in sweat, and looked over at Will, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. He rose to get a drink of water, not knowing what time it was at all. As he laid back down and drifted into slumber, the dreams came back full force. Always the same; standing on the edge of a precipice, Will was with him, both of them covered in blood. Right before he woke each time, Will would pull them over and he’d awake as he was falling and falling and falling for what felt like an eternity. He didn’t know what the dreams meant, and did his best to push them aside and remain strong for his beautiful Omega.   

“Kae?” Will called from the bed, having turned over and felt him not there, he sat up, blinking into the darkness. “You okay?”

Kae wiped his hand over his face, brushing his long silvery hair back and exhaling heavily. “I didn’t mean to wake you, Will. Just...just some bad dreams,” he sighed.

“C’mere,” Will whispered, opening his arms for Kae, needing to feel him, sweaty and damp or not. “Tell me.”

Kae was hesitant to talk about his dreams, but Will was his mate, who better to talk to? “I’m covered in blood, standing on the edge of a cliff, you are too, but then, you…” he stops, a chill washing over him, and he turns his face away from the smaller man, as though he can’t look at him.

Will’s breath stopped in his throat, caught. Breathing was harder suddenly, as he crawled out of bed to get to Kae as fast as he could, but his limbs felt numb. “Pull you over the edge…” he finally managed to get out, in a breath, limbs shaking hard as his hands quivered.  _ It doesn’t mean anything _ , he told himself, Kae was reading him, feeling his own worst nightmares. That’s all.

Kae’s face went white as a ghost as he looked at Will in confusion. His full lips parted, but no sound came out, only a wordless gasp. Staring into Will’s eyes, his face answered any question the young man may have had, and finally he whispered, “How did you know that?” The dream had terrified him in a way that nothing did. This was a man who communed with the Lord of the Realm of Darkness, and yet the nightmares has shaken Kae to his core, leaving him chilled and disoriented.

“It’s a dream I have often from a memory not too long ago, and yet long enough ago to feel like forever,” Will explained, quietly. “You… could you be empathizing with my dreams?”

Kae nodded, weaving his fingers between Will’s, bringing the younger man’s knuckles to his lips and kissing them. “It must be. Because of our bond…” he said.

“Has to be.” Will refused to believe anything else, it was impossible, and his pain had been  _ too  _ real to be much else.

The older man wrapped his arms around Will, burying his nose in his neck to scent him. It filled him with comfort, security, things that felt like he ought not need them and yet strangely he was finding he did. “My mate, aš tave myliu,” Kaecilius said in a whisper. As soon as the words left his lips, he was confused, not recognizing them. He shook his head slowly. “Pardon, I mean to say, I love you, Will.”

“I know what you said,” Will whispered back, shaking a little in Kae’s arms as he tried not to think of the things he might be projecting onto Kae. “I love you, too…”

Kae felt his heart burn in his chest at the words, the confusion of what he’d said before wiped away for the moment as he simply focused on what was here in his arms right now, not his nightmares. He stroked Will’s hair adoringly as they fell asleep together once more.

***

The tall, elegant woman walked with quiet purpose through the narrow streets, having appeared moments earlier in a deserted alleyway through a channel of fire drawn like one of the gates Kae himself had conjured. She observed the house where they stayed, with a known betrayer, a zealot and follower of Dormammu. She frowned and waited, watching closely first as the old man tottered out to get his morning supplies, then as Kae himself made his way out to go to the market too. With Will at long last alone, she made her way to the door, and knocked.

“Did you-” Will started to say when he opened the door to see it was not Kae at all.  He took a step forward and closed the door a little. “What do you want?”

“Hello, Will.” she said, a playful, light smile on her lips. She moved past him into the house, almost gliding, and once inside, looked around curiously before turning back towards him. “I wanted to speak with you again. Privately.”

Will forgot her ability to do as she pleased, and stepped out of the way. “Well, you have about twenty minutes until Kae returns.”

“I’m here to speak to you about Kaecilius. I had hoped I wouldn’t have to have this conversation with you, but as you two have left my realm, and you came to us seeking peace and answers, I feel obligated to explain to you now, how it is Kae came to me.” She circled him a moment, looking at him thoughtfully.

“Why now?” Will asked, his heart beating a little faster, as answers laid out before him that he needed to grasp, and yet he was blinded in a way, ready to see the light, the path offered.

The woman walked deeper into the house, gesturing for Will to follow. “Come, sit,” she said softly. “Now, because you both elude me more and more each day. Kaecilius has extricated himself, removed himself from my domain, and I fear for him. But more so, my concern for you. You are an innocent in this, Will.”

“In this? But not entirely innocent in everything,” Will corrected, hardly one to jump into things without thought, and even though Kaecilius and he had mated in the first twenty hours of meeting, he wasn’t regretful. The pieces  _ fit _ .

The Ancient One smoothed her hands over her robes and fixed her compelling gaze upon the young man. “When Kaecilius came to me, he was a broken man. He had lost everything, including the love of his heart. He told me he had contemplated ending his life, that he couldn’t return home. He had done some terrible, horrific things in his past, things he couldn’t run from, and he asked for my help. The greatest weight he bore related to events surrounding his loved one. He asked me to...make him whole, make him new, make him forget his lover, as he could no longer bear the loss and separation. I saw great potential in him, in spite of the grievous darkness that shadowed his mind, and I agreed to help him.”

“And yet he is still just that,” Will added on, well aware how Kae was, that his darkness was a perfect match for his own, just as Hannibal’s had been. Will blinked, eyes wandering the Ancient One’s face as he paced closer to her, realization gracing his own face. “Please don’t tell me that’s…”

She smiled at him warmly, a sad expression coloring her clear gray eyes. “There’s a reason your bond forged so quickly and deeply, Will. There’s a reason you’re so drawn to one another. A mating bond is not so easily broken. When I first saw you, I knew what would unfold...I tried to warn you, hoping it might not. But perhaps this is the path you are meant for.” She reached a hand to touch his cheek, energy coursing through her fingertips into the young man. Closing her eyes, she opened her mind to him to allow him to see everything...everything related to Kaecilius. “You know the truth, Will Graham,” The Ancient One said, finally.

Will stood there shocked, eyes closed as his mind took in everything there was to take, and then he fell to his knees, dumbstruck with longing and anger. Hannibal had left him, Hannibal had asked to _ forget  _ him.

“He didn’t want to come back to me,” Will whispered. “He didn’t even try to find me…”

“He thought you were dead. He couldn’t live without you. He was devastated, Will.” Her fingertips moved between his eyes, a place at the center of his forehead, flooding his mind with memories of the deeply intimate agony his Alpha had suffered. “Through the mystical arts, he chose to heal and live, but I’m afraid his darkness is so great he’s turned away us. I’m telling you this to caution you for your own sake, but also hoping perhaps you can guide him from the darkness. He’s had a powerful influence over your life, Will. You had the power to change him once. Maybe it’s time to exercise that power again.”

Once again, Will was caught between the right and the wrong, and just running away with Hannibal forever. The question was, could he live with Hannibal who wasn’t Hannibal at all, but a power hungry Sorcerer? The empath swallowed hard, and nodded his head, unsure with what he would do yet, if he could do it at all.

“What is really worse, Will? What he was before, or what he is now?” she asked leadingly, lowering her hand from his face. “You need to ask yourself what you want. You are bound to each other so inexorably, it seems your fates are entwined for eternity.”

“And if I choose to ignore the worst to enjoy the best of him?” Will stifled back the ache in his voice, though he’d known all along, deep down, somehow. The first moment he laid eyes on Kae he felt at peace and the longing for his mate had disappeared entirely.

“There are many in this life who do not even find that compromise with happiness. Fewer still who find their eternal soul mate as you have, Will. I only want you both to be happy, and not follow this dangerous path Kae seems to be intent on going down. It will destroy him, and if he is destroyed, you know what will become of you. You pulled him off that cliff for a reason. I’m telling you, you have the power to change his direction,” she said.

Will nodded, understanding that he now had some convincing to do, and perhaps some truths to tell, however if he could do it was another thing. “I understand.”

She rose and nodded. “I know how Kaecilius feels about me, so I am not sure how he will handle all of this. His memories have been diminished through his exercises, through the power he’s gained, but you may be able to recover them to a degree. I do believe he can truly go back to remembering his former life, the question is whether or not  _ you _ want that.”

“Thank you,” Will said, standing again, though his own legs were weak feeling just from the new knowledge, all of which had yet to really sink in.

The woman reached to touch his hand and squeezed it. “I hope it turns out as you desire, Will. Goodbye,” she said, moving to the door and leaving quickly.

***

Kaelicius returned to the house they were staying in with a basket of food, coming in the door and setting everything down in the kitchen. He began putting the fruits and vegetables away, and as he finished, he looked around for Will, finally going to their room to see if he was there. “Will?” he called out as he opened the door.

Will sat in the middle of the floor, quiet, contemplating, as he had been learning to be with Kae, in this new life. He tilted his chin up, curls in his eyes. “I’m here.”

Kae’s gold eyes washed over the younger man’s countenance, seeing a change. He knelt beside him, placing a warm hand over Will’s cheek. “Are you alright? You seem...different,” he said, looking over Will’s hand, chest, legs, as if trying to see what it could be.

“I… think I’ve found my peace,” Will said with a little smile, showing every limb, every palm and foot to his Alpha. He was physically fine, and mentally more aware.

“Good. I’ll give you anything you need, Will, you know that,” Kae responded, his hands wandering Will’s form possessively. Something nagged at him. Something  _ was _ different, but he let it go, sure he’d find out sooner or later.

There was far less turmoil in Will than there had been before, his eyes still a sea storm blue, but the darkness had lightened up a little, something like relief. He opened his arms and hugged Kae to him, getting to his knees. “I know. Likewise, I am here for you.”

Kae held him tightly, wondering how the feeling in his chest rivalled that of the most powerful magic he’d performed. His heart burned in his chest at the sensation. It was confusing how strong his bond had become to the Omega in such a brief time, and he wondered if it went beyond mere biology.

“I was thinking, we should move on, find a new place to be alone with ourselves, Will. My friend is charitable, but we will be found soon. I think it would be wise,” he said quietly.

“I’ll follow you anywhere,” Will whispered, swallowing down the emotion in his throat, hard now not to call him by his real name. “I’ll always follow.”

Kae couldn’t hold back the overwhelming surge of emotion at Will’s words. “You should know, Will, I’m never leaving you, ever. I’m your mate for life. I….I love you,” he said, his haunting eyes glazed and damp. He meant every word too, though he couldn’t explain why, and truthfully it confused him how he felt so powerfully bonded to the younger man. He’d never thought mating would be this...intense.

Will pulled Kae over to him, limbs wrapped around him, holding him close. “I love you, too. I’ll do everything in me to stay by your side.” Once, years ago, Will thought he could leave, thought he couldn’t be with Hannibal, but he’d been very wrong. He couldn’t do that again.

Kae pulled Will to standing and gently prodded him to the bed, pressing his knees against the back of the soft mattress, “Lay,” he said softly, pulling the clasps on his hair loose and letting the long silver tendrils fall around his shoulders loosely.

Though Will could easily not take orders, he found it quite difficult now not to. Falling back onto the bed, spread out as he watched the silver cascade down Kae’s shoulder, reaching up to touch a strand. He’d never would have thought Hannibal capable of such long hair.

Kae stood at the side of the bed, looking down at Will, and loosened his robes, letting them fall to the floor and pool around his feet. He pulled the drawstring of his linen trousers and let them fall as well, and knelt on the bed, crawling next to his Omega. He caressed Will’s jaw line tenderly, gazing at him as though he was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen.  

Will turned his head to look at Kae openly, leaning into his touch as he reached out one hand to glide through grey chest hair. “What are you thinking?” he whispered.

Kae nuzzled over Will’s neck, peppering hot kisses over his skin. “That I can’t believe I found you, and that you’re mine, and what wonders we’ll share together. It’s...it’s confusing and I understand so much yet so little. I can reach out and see an infinite number of universes, but the only one I care about is one with you, here in my arms.”

“Then let’s just stay in our own little universe,” Will whispered, stripping out of his robes and pants, kicking them off the bed as he pulled Kae over him, skin to skin. “I need only you to be happy…”

Kae pressed Will back into the bed, devouring his mouth, his gold and silver tendrils falling all around the handsome young man’s face as he kissed him. “All I need is you…” he whispered between heated breaths.

“Am I enough?” Will asked between their long, passionate kisses, desperate to know if he could, somehow, drag Kae away from his need of darkness, to have more than he had now.

Kaecilius paused at Will’s question, searching the azure waves in his eyes. “Enough? You’re everything…” he realized, suddenly,  in that moment what Will means. “My magic. My power....Would you ask me to choose?” he asked softly, sadness tinging the edges of his vision.

“I don’t want to lose you.”  _ Again _ . Will sighed, his breath catching in his lungs, forcing out a little whine he couldn’t help, all apart of being an Omega. “I just… I  _ feel _ it could be damning, to the both of us, to  _ you _ .”

Kae rolled to his back, eyes looking up at the ceiling as he breathed slowly. “I don’t remember anything much before I came here, to her. I only remember pain, anguish, the feeling of powerlessness. I learned to have this control over the fabric of time and the elements, it gave me my hope back. I….I don’t want to go back to that powerlessness, Will. I don’t know if I can.” he exhaled heavily, knowing the confession was not very Alpha-like of him, to admit to any vulnerability, yet with Will he felt safe.  

Will rolled to lay half on Kae, his arms resting over his bare chest as he gazed down at him. “You won’t have to feel like that when you’re with me, I promise you.”

Kae looked up at the younger man, lines of worry etching his face, but when he looked in his eyes, he felt a weight lift inexplicably from him. “You're the most unique…” he hesitated saying the word, remembering how he'd bristled at it before. “You're uniquely strong, powerful, Will. I believe you when you say it,” he finally said.

“Then trust me;  _ have _ me. We can be happy without all of this… darkness,” Will whispered, wanting to take his mate and hide away forever, from the rest of the world.

“You’ve barely begun to know the wonders of my power, but already you reject it? I don’t think you know what you ask, Will,” Kae whispered, feeling crestfallen. This was much harder than he’d thought, as he hadn’t anticipated any of this, and his bond with the Omega was too monumental now.

“ _ This _ darkness doesn't make you,” Will said, quietly, swallowing hard as he felt through their connection, and his empathy, and need to take it all back and soothe. But Will had never been one to bother. “Who you are without or without is who I am mated with.”

“I don’t remember a before, without. And I don’t know if a before, without, is worth remembering anymore. Why would I want a limiting, human existence, Will, why when you’ve seen what I’ve shown you, how we can change the fabric of time and manipulate matter in any way we want? Why would I ever want to go back?” Kaecilius looked back down into the younger man’s blue eyes and saw universes inside them - a multitude of destinies, and every one contained _ him _ . “Why did you want me to begin with if you saw my darkness,but now you have second thoughts or hesitations, perhaps fears? I don’t understand Will.” Kae rolled a top the smaller man, pressing him into the mattress, his weight bearing down on him, thick thighs parting Will’s legs. “I thought perhaps we saw the same thing in each other….reflections in the smoke…”

Vulnerable and naked they both were, shedding skins and seeing right through the other, and yet Will still knew more than Kae, he knew everything he couldn’t tell the other man, but knew he should. It was matter of time and if Kae believed him. Will wrapped his legs around his mate’s hips, locking them there with ankles crossed at his lower back.

“I love every inch of you, but I see this darkness as all consuming, and in its consummation, it’ll take you with it, then what will I have, Kae? Another dead mate? You would risk that? You would leave me?”

Kae searched Will’s face, eyes moistened with emotions he felt deeper than he understood. Something inside this beautiful creature beneath him seemed to grip his heart, clenching and wrapping around his chest and pulling in a way that left him breathless. He placed his hand alongside Will’s face, cupping it tenderly and searching his endlessly blue eyes. “I will never leave you, Will. I’d give up my life before I’d leave you. If...if you ask this of me...then…” Kae’s chest heaved up and down with the effort of his internal struggle.

“I want us to be happy together, not thrown apart, never apart,” Will offered, not sure how else to explain. “Don’t let your nightmares consume you and become real, that we drift apart, that we’re not together.”

Kaecilius thought of the waking dreams he’d been having as of late, ever since the handsome young Omega had entered his life. He couldn’t recall having such troubled sleep before, but that recurring dream of being pulled over the edge of that stormy cliff plagued him night after night. “Nothing will take you from me. I won’t allow it. Death itself won’t take you from me. Dormammu can keep us together forever, Will,” Kae added, leaning down to kiss Will, taking his bottom lip between his teeth slowly.

Will sighed; more about Dormammu. “Don’t you want to be your own ruler, your own person? God?” That was the Hannibal he knew, not someone who followed someone else.

The sorcerer let Will’s words tumble over in his mind. A god himself, well, yes, that was his entire idea, his goal and dream. Dormammu had promised to make him a god himself, though he would always serve the Dark Lord. “Yes, that is indeed my plan,” he answered. “Let us not argue any more about this today, my Will,” he finally sighed, tipping his chin up to bite along his jawline.

Will bit back the whine in his throat at being silenced, and did just that. He nuzzled once against Kae’s jaw, gently.

Kaecilius grazed his teeth over the sweet, ridged scar along his neck, inhaling Will’s scent deeply. A low, nearly silent growl rumbled in his throat as he responded to the unuttered whine, sensing it from him, the slight bend of submission that the younger man tried to conceal but ultimately could not. He darted out a broad tongue to trace the roughed skin, licking dewy drops of sweat and chasing them to the hollow of his throat, feeling himself swell against Will’s thigh simply in response to the chemicals between them, if not the deeper intimacy they shared.

Argument long forgotten as their scents started to fill the air and mingle, every stroke of tongue against his scar and skin was more than enough to have Will spreading his thighs and canting his hips up to permit his Alpha access to his slickening hole.

Thick fingers slid between Will’s thighs, rubbing over the young man’s warm, wet entrance, Kae savouring how easily he slid in one, then two fingers to his mate’s body. “You’re exquisite, my love,” he whispered, removing his fingers to slick his own cock with Will’s lubrication. “Do you want me, my beauty?” he asked, his amber eyes glowing red just before he captured Will’s mouth and plunged inside to feast from him hungrily.

“Please,” Will pleaded, always willing and able with Kae, always wanton. He spread his thighs in anticipation, watching his mate with dark, sea blue irises.

Kaecilius gripped himself firmly, sliding his fist over his length and lining the bulbous head against the slippery ring of Will’s entrance, and as he looked in his eyes, he plunged inside with a gasp. Like the waters that threatened to drown him in his dreams, he was pulled under, deep, swallowed by the sweet honeyed heat of the Omega. “Yours, William,” he panted, leaning on his elbows and exhaling against his lips as he began an immediately punishing, desperate pace, as though if he slowed, he might lose him, be washed away somehow.

Will’s hands sought purchase in Kae’s long hair, grasping tightly as he was taken, held and fucked mercilessly. His lips threatened to say the wrong name as his own full name was branded on Kae’s tongue, reminded far too much of his old life. Heat rose through Will as he writhed. “Promise me”

The older man thrust hard, seating deeper with every snap of his hips, and the frantic grip of Will’s hands in his hair only served to spike the fever raging through him. “I promise on my life,” he whispered, his voice a deep, thickly accented rasp. Kae laid himself fully atop Will, knees nearly level with his ears, and could feel the hard jut of the Omega’s leaking cock smearing pre come wetly between their bellies. “I would end the world to keep you with me for eternity,” Kae breathed, eyes searching Will’s, wet with the intensity of their bond.

That’s what Will needed to hear, to not give up on them, to not finally do as he should have done long, long ago. Kae was all in, and so was Will. Will reached to hold Kae closer, and kissed him, eyes never leaving his as their bodies wound together and worked perfectly in motion. “I love you.”

As Kae’s movements became faster and deeper, he fed lustfully from his mouth, eating the very words as though they were the only sustenance he needed to live. “I love you, Will, I...love you…” he whispered, pulling chestnut curls back in his fist to expose the long column of his neck. His skin was so soft beneath the stubble, fragrant and sweet like the berries and cream the sorcerer had scented on him from their very first meeting. Pounding him in earnest now, he could feel himself nearing the edge, the surge of energy building at the base of his spine and threatening to spill upward.  

“There,” Will managed, holding Kae to him, pressed hard into his sweet spot inside of him, tapping until the Omega started to come, blindingly hot, chest heaving with it, as he writhed under the larger man.

Kaecilius felt his knot thicken as the younger man thrashed beneath him, face twisted in beautiful ecstasy. “Will...my William….Aš tave myliu, Aš tave myliu, Aš tave myliu…” he gasped, filling the Omega with his seed, pulsing up his shaft in sharp bursts. A distant part of him was confused at his words, knowing he’d said it to Will days prior, a language that seemed strangely familiar, but the thought faded in the fog of his climax. He wrapped strong arms around Will, tawny skin shimmering with sweat as his hips remained locked against his mates. “My love,” was all he could say.  

Will loved every word, every gasp, and kissed them right off Kae’s lips and tongue, pulling him in for a heated, slow kiss until their bodies stop moving altogether. He hooked his legs around his lower back, ankles crossed, as if afraid Kae may leave. “Never leave me.”

“I won’t,” Kae whispered, lips pressed against Will’s, fingers tangled tightly in the younger man’s soft, dark curls. “I couldn’t.”

Will had left Hannibal once, and he never wanted to experience that separation nor the one they had after the cliff ever again. Will let out a content sigh, relaxing back into the mattress. “Good.”

***

Kae’s sleep was more fitful that night than it had ever been. He tossed and turned but finally fell into a deep sleep. His rest was anything but peaceful though, as he saw himself once again standing on the edge of a cliff, salty air and wind whipping at his face with biting cold. He was filthy, and wearing strange clothing, more like garments from the modern, outside world. It was dark but for the moon shining through almost iridescent clouds, and as he looked down at himself, he noticed the sticky substance that covered him was blood, glistening black as oil in the moonlight.

He felt a presence approach and turned to see Will standing there, almost crouched in some kind of pain. He appeared wounded, and Kae leaned down to take his hand and help him up. Will looked at him intensely, his beautiful eyes full of a strange combination of mournful sadness, awestruck wonder, and love. As he rested his damp, curly head on Kae’s chest, the older man held him close, and a feeling of unparallelled peace and bliss washed over him. It was at that moment he felt a tug, a pull, Will’s weight bearing down and taking him, tipping him over the edge of the cliff. His heart caught in his throat, a rise of panic at the weightlessness and loss of control from falling, yet with Will’s arms entwined around him, he quickly calmed, and the only thought in his mind was, if this was to be his end, there was no one else he’d rather be with.

_ “Hannibal? Hannibal?”  _ Kae heard a voice echoing in his mind. As he opened his eyes, he was seated in an opulent office, and Will stood leaning over him, looking much different than he did now. Younger, cleaner, with the same sad tiredness in his face, yet nothing like what the young man bore now. This was a different Will Graham.

Will was addressing  _ him,  _ he suddenly realized, and furrowed his brow in confusion.  _ “Hannibal, you fell asleep or zoned out? I’ve never seen you like this, Doctor. The monsters finally getting to you, too? Jack says…” _ Will’s voice trailed off as Kae’s mind’s eye fogged again and shifted to a new scene, and once again he was covered in blood, his hands holding a woman’s intestines, her body carved open like a game animal. It somehow didn’t seem shocking to him, only strange, as his hands seemed to move of their own accord, cutting through tissue, removing organs and carefully placing them in surgical trays. A dark smoke billowed around him, and he was in an professional-looking kitchen, pressing down on a large pair of lungs that he surmised to be human, dusting them in flour and thyme. Suddenly though, it all went dark again, everything black, no more vision, and all he felt was cold.

***

Will turned over in his sleep, arm reaching to curl in again Kae, to find his warmth once again and fall back into blissful slumber once more. However, the warmth was gone and Kae’s side of the mattress was warm, but cooling quickly. Will turned to look at the door, which was opened and blowing gusts of billowy wind into the house, from the front door being open as well. He stood quickly, putting a coat on and shoes, and crept out into the night. There’s no way the Alpha could have gone far, and by scent alone, Will could trace him, but used his distinctive empathy to help him, wandering up to the edge of a cliff.

“Kae?” he called out, over the horizon, but nothing came back, so he tried again. “Kaecilius?” Blinking, he finally looked down, eyes resting now with intense worry on the form at the bottom.

Will made his way down quickly, the cliff’s edge was not far, but far enough. He got to the bottom and scooped Kae’s head into his arms, careful of the gash. “Kae?”

Kae stirred, his vision blurred and a pounding, searing pain in his head. He began coughing roughly, immediately clutching his forehead and looking at Will in utter confusion. “What….where am I?”

“You fell, I have you,” Will said, quietly, holding get Kae’s head near his stomach, carefully looking him over for other injuries. “You were sleepwalking.”

Kae moaned, in some pain but mostly just disoriented. “I-I think I’m alright, my head just hurts,” he sat up, looking at Will as though he were an apparition, remembering clearly what he’d seen in his dream. He tried to stand, holding on to Will for balance, and dabbed at a trickle of blood that ran down the side of his face.

“Careful,” Will whispered, on his feet quickly, arms around the other man, staying close. “Let me help you back, we’ll get you cleaned up.”

Kae nodded his assent, leaning heavily on the shorter man and limping slightly as they made their way back to the house. “You….you were calling me Hannibal, Will,” he muttered, “And I was wearing strange clothes. There was more….I don’t understand,” he said, coughing and holding his ribs as they walked.

Will walked slowly with Kae, and even slower at the mention of the name. “A dream or a memory?” he found himself asking as they trudged back up the cliff side via the path there.

Kaecilius shook his head. “It felt more like a memory. I was...I had some woman gutted like an animal, and somehow I...I knew how to remove her organs, precisely, surgically. I don’t remember doing that before, but it felt so real,” he stopped their movement and looked into Will’s eyes, searching his face. “I haven’t felt this uncertain since I began my training, and it’s frightening to me. I don’t know what it means, and….Hannibal  _ was your _ mate,” he said, gripping Will’s arms.

“You had your memories removed, taken from you,” Will explained, touching Kae’s chest with one hand, as sturdy as he could manage. “I think… you’re getting them back, being around me.”

Kae sank to his knees in the street, the realization shocking him as he looked up at Will with wet, amber eyes. “Are you saying…” he whispered, not sure what was real anymore….unsure of anything in the world at the moment, other than  _ Will _ . The Omega was his only buoy, and he clung to him with fear and confusion in his face.

“Yes. I am.” Will sank down with Kae,  gazing him over, touching his face with both hands. “I've suspected since we met, but told myself it was impossible. You put me into heat just being around you. My mate.”

Kaecilius closed his eyes as he held Will’s hand, and the memories - he now  _ knew _ they were memories - flashed through his mind. They were together on the cliff, after slaying the dragon, and Will took them over the edge. Opening his eyes, Kae searched the younger man’s face. “I thought you were dead….I couldn’t bear the thought, of living without you, Will...please...please don’t think I intended to leave you. You...you were gone…”

“I thought  _ you _ were dead,” Will whispered, watching the recognition in his mate’s eyes, not just as someone familiar, but actually knowing him, inside and out. “I grieved for months.”

Kaecilius, fully realizing now that he was in fact Hannibal, cradled Will’s face in his hands, touching and looking at him as though he were a rare and priceless jewel. “If I’d had any idea you were still alive, I’d never have come here. Never have....I couldn’t live without you, Will. I was in agony as well. I wanted to….I didn’t want to live when I came here. It’s the reason I asked them to take away my memories, teach me a path to peace. William, you found me…” he shook his head in awe and pulled Will closer to kiss him, fingertips grazing over the mark on his neck. It was astonishing to him, and yet proof of how indelible their bond truly was. Time, oceans, distance, memories, life and death itself...nothing could keep them apart.

They always found each other, one way or another, whether Will pushed or he pulled, it never mattered. They were like beacons in the night; stars that lead them to one another. “You’re not angry?”

Hannibal rose, touching the blood on his forehead and taking Will’s hand. “Angry? I couldn’t be angry to have found you again. It feels like the memories of the past are ones I am reliving over and over. Time...time did reverse, didn’t it Will? Here we are again…” He pulled the younger man close to him and buried his head in Will’s shoulder, his breathing heavy and uneven as he became overcome with emotion.

“It did,” Will agreed, arms around Hannibal shoulder’s tightly, holding and clutching onto him turns, as emotion bubbled through him.

Hannibal still felt weak from the fall, but he led Will back towards the house knowing he’d need to lay down, unsure if he might black out again; for the injury to have shaken his memories as it had, it was possible it had been more serious than it seemed, but he wasn’t sure. “Let’s get back, my beloved,” he said, leaning on Will again for support.

Will curled his arm around Hannibal and let him lean, walking them to the house once more, still very dark out. He helped Hannibal to their room, their bed, and got a cloth to clean his wound. It didn’t look terrible, but there could be bruising on the brain.

“I’m...You know me, Will. I’m a man of science, reason, facts. All of this,” Hannibal said, waving his hands, his mind seeming to clear even through the pain that seared through his skull, “All of this was smoke and mirrors, trying to grieve your loss. I  _ couldn’t grieve _ you, Will. I couldn’t let you go. I’ve never been able to. The best I could hope for was...clouding my memories to try and forget.” Hannibal’s eyes brimmed with tears again, and he curled forward against the young empath. “How can you ever forgive me for this, Will?”

Will worried that Hannibal would see that Will had found another mate that looked exactly like him, not this, not Hannibal apologizing for having done this at all. Will held Hannibal against him, dabbing at his head gently with the cloth. “There’s nothing to forgive.”

The doctor looked deep into Will’s eyes. “You always knew, didn’t you? You knew it was me. It’s why we triggered each other, why we mated so quickly. My...my magic had prevented me from those needs my entire time here. You overrode all of that, and I wondered why.” He rubbed a thumb over Will’s cheek affectionately.  

“A part of me knew, had always known. I didn’t want to believe it was possible, but I’d known for a few days now,” Will admitted, with a soft smile.

Hannibal nodded, but the slight movement caused him to wince in pain. “I believe I should lie down, though I need to stay awake.  As soon as I’m able, we should move on from this place. I believe...my identity is secure as long as we remain hidden. But, we should move on soon.”

“Okay… we'll be fine,” Will assured, letting Hannibal rest back on the bed, but stayed close to watch over him.

Hannibal reclined, holding Will’s hand to his chest, bringing his knuckles to his lips and brushing over them, staring at the younger man as though he were afraid if he closed his eyes, he might lose him. He knew of course he wouldn’t, but to come so far after all this, the fear was still there, and in his current condition, his mind was still awash in the images of his visions.

“Do you need a glass of water?” Will asked, quietly, mostly just making sure Hannibal was alright, but not wanting to leave his side either. Really, they should be moving; Will wasn’t sure how long Hannibal could keep up the rouse now.

“Yes, water would be good. Thank you, Will,” the doctor replied, sitting up. He looked around the room, trying to think about their situation. They might need to move soon, how soon he wasn’t yet sure. He would perhaps be able to conceal his newfound knowledge from his friend for a short time, but he’d eventually figure it out, and Hannibal knew they would face a greater challenge blending in if that happened.

Will gathered a glass of water and brought it back to Hannibal, sitting bedside with him once more. “The Ancient One had come by while you were out yesterday. She told me, she assured me you were who I thought you were. That could go very wrong for us.”

Hannibal’s eyes became clearer as he drank the water Will handed him, more focused. “We must leave tonight. We will be in danger if we linger. Mordo will know as soon as he sees me now, and he will betray us.” Hannibal’s brow furrowed as he tried to sit up. “What else did she say? Anything….anything that would affect our journey?”

“She asked me if I would stop you from continuing the dark path, that it would only lead to more danger, nothing else,” Will said, quietly, keeping it between them.

Hannibal laughed softly, shaking his head. “Which darkness is a greater evil, that of Dormammu, or what we shared before, on that cliff? The power over life and death, the power to manipulate time, they are not so unlike each other. Darkness can’t exist without light; she knows that as well as anyone. Hypocritical of her to wish to retain that knowledge for herself. She believes she is the only one who has the wisdom to take what she can from the darkness, what’s convenient, leave behind the rest.” He took another sip of water and picked up some of his clothes from the chair beside the bed, folding them to place in his satchel. “For all her supposed experience, she’s quite foolish. It will be her downfall.”

“But not because of us,”  Will said, plainly, and clearly not wanting to be so involved with those affairs, they had their own lives to lead now.

“As long as she stays out of our way, no. I won’t seek her out actively. There’s no reason to.” Hannibal placed his hand over Will’s reassuringly. He was still an Alpha predator at heart, and would do whatever was called for to keep Will safe. He looked out the window, before leaning forward to pull some paper and a pen from the nightstand. “I’ll write a note to Mordo. You should gather your things. We need to leave before dawn.”

Will had most of his things in one sack, by the bed, nothing else. He needed nothing but Hannibal. “I’m ready when you are.”

Hannibal stood and threw his satchel over his shoulder, closing his eyes and centering his thoughts to open a gate for them. As his large hands cut through the air rapidly, sparks of fire flew from his fingertips and soon a door formed as before. Hannibal steeped through, reaching one hand to clasp Will’s firmly, and guided them through.

They needed to get to higher ground, somewhere safer, concealed from both the Ancient One and the Zealots as well as, of course, any law enforcement that could potentially recognize Hannibal. Of course he was still, to the rest of the world, Kaecilius, with only Will and The Ancient One knowing his true identity.

Will grasped Hannibal's hand tightly, bag over his shoulder as they stepped into yet another port and another place. He kept increasingly close to Hannibal, much too afraid to lose him once again.

Hannibal guided them to an area outside the village, away from the population, into the mountains. More remote; it would be difficult to get to by normal means, and they’d be safer here. He knew he could conjure any supplies they needed, in fact the shelter he found them was stocked with enough food, water and medical supplies to aid them until they could regroup, for the time being.

The doctor exhaled heavily, having released Will’s hand, and looked out the window of their habitation. It was a small, vacant bungalow, clean, simple, overlooking a beautiful misty valley high in the mountains. Here, they could have the privacy to decide what to do with their lives, their future.

The one thing Hannibal was certain of was he was bound to his mate for life, and there was no where else in the world he wanted to be, but by Will’s side.


End file.
